How to Keep Bees Off Hummingbird Feeders

Keep Bees Off Hummingbird Feeders

How to keep bees off hummingbird feeders? Bees and hummingbirds generally exist in the same ecosystem. This means that if you have hummingbirds that you put food out for, chances are that bees could be feeding more of that food as compared to your precious hummingbirds. Other flying insects like wasps will also find their way there and humming birds will find it hard to feed from there as the feeder gets contaminated and they will start moving. There are a few tricks that you can employ to keep these insects like bees at bay and your hummers fed.

Move the feeder to a shady location

Bees like feeding in sunny areas. Keep bees off hummingbird feeders by moving the feeder in a place without sun access you will have taken care of the problem as the birds will have no problem moving to the new location to feed. You could also place a saucer of nectar where you previously had the feeder, and this will keep the bees in that location. Placing the feeder in a shady location also serves to keep the nectar cool and slows down the fermentation process.

Paint the feeder

Most bright colors like yellow attract bees. Bright colors to a bee have the same effect as a flower and they have to go in to feed.  Repaint your feeder to a dull color and this will keep bees away off hummingbird feeders. Your birds have no problem with the colors and will continue feeding as usual.

Less sugar

You could try reducing the amount of sugar in the water to make it less sugary. Bees like it when it is too sweet, and when the concentration changes, they will start looking for a source that offers the amount of sugar that they like.  Your birds will not be affected much by this change of concentration as they will soon adapt.

Clean sugary drips

After you have filled the feeder with fresh nectar, you should clean off the sugar drips on the sides. These drips have a scent that attracts the bees to the feeder. You should also ensure that your feeder is not leaking, as this could be attracting the bees.

Feeder designs

You should get feeder designs whose saucer positions place the nectar away from the feeding port. Long-tongued hummingbirds will easily reach and at the same time restricting access from the bees. Bees will not hang around if they cannot reach the nectar to feed.

Use insect traps

You also get insect traps to keep bees off hummingbird feeders. This will prevent most insects from gaining access of the feeder.  For yellow jacket bees, there are yellow jacket traps that are locally available and they ensure that this bee does not disrupt the feeding of your hummers.

Give the insects their feeders

All these insects have a role to play in the ecosystem and it would not be best to kill them. You could also give them their very own feeder to ensure they are fed and do not try to gain access to the hummingbird’s feeders.

There are many tricks that you could try, but never try using insect killing chemicals as they could end up affecting your hummingbirds.