Hummers at last!Wait...darn it!

[CBSlayer2004]

As the title goes, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, at least 2 males, have finally found my hummer feeder. But the problem is(there always is a problem with my feeders, is that the stupid freaky little ants found it also, how the heck do I get them away, it's hanging from a close hanger at my house roof. I don't know how they found it.

[Katy Penland]

I use Vaseline on the wire loop and the nail from which it hangs, and it deters all crawlies (like your sugar ants) except the large, black, carpenter ants, who seem to actually eat the stuff!

[crickieheather]

Ant moats: http://www.humming-birds.com/moat.html

You can hang it from whatever you're using now, and then hang the feeder from the ant moat. Hummzingers even come with a built-in ant moat.

[humminbird]

I personally do not recommend vaseline or any other petroleum based product on or near the feeder. The one possible exception, since you are in GA I believe, is to use mineral oil in a commercial ant mote hung above the feeder. By the way, the hummingbirds will eat some of these ants.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[Katy Penland]

No kidding, Mark? Okay, won't do it anymore and will check out using ant moats. Question about using moats with mineral oil: Does this present a problem (for the birds, I mean) in windy conditions with the oil getting on the feeder itself?

[humminbird]

Since it does not evaporate as fast, you do not have to fill them so full that they will spill. You can even put it 1/4 water 1/4 mineral oil. Of course in a tornado all bets are off!

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[crickieheather]

I personally do not recommend vaseline or any other petroleum based product on or near the feeder. The one possible exception, since you are in GA I believe, is to use mineral oil in a commercial ant mote hung above the feeder. By the way, the hummingbirds will eat some of these ants.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

Yes, I read somewhere that Vaseline can gum up the poor hummer's wingtips if they brush up against it. They have to pump their wings faster to stay aloft. Since they're so light already, this causes to great a strain on their poor energy reserves.

I didn't know hummers ate ants though! I thought it was only flying insects they caught 'on the wing'.

[DavidP]

Yes, I read somewhere that Vaseline can gum up the poor hummer's wingtips if they brush up against it. They have to pump their wings faster to stay aloft. Since they're so light already, this causes to great a strain on their poor energy reserves.

I didn't know hummers ate ants though! I thought it was only flying insects they caught 'on the wing'.


I tried the vaseline but didn't seem to work too well for me, as it got dusty quite quickly or became very runny in the heat, a few 100+ days will kill it.
What has seemed to work so far and I got it from this forum is to use Tanglefoot which is sort of like an arborists vaseline which seems a little thicker and less prone to melting. Also don't smear it over the wire but taking a litre soda bottle top drill a hole thru it and thread that upside down over your hanging wire/pole and then fill that with tanglefoot which seems to stay there. Then don't have the problem of continually filling an ant moat if using just water or the mess of using oil and water.

Seems to work so far but haven't had the big onslaught of ants here in the summer yet.

[humminbird]

Are you aware that the company themselves does not recommend using tanglefoot if there is any chance at all that the birds can come in contact with it? Since there are numerous reports (and I have seen) of hummingbirds perching on the wires above the feeders (not to mention other birds doing the same) I would not recommend this.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[CBSlayer2004]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, my dad suggested vasoline petroleum jelly, but couldn't find any. But I found something that has appeared to have worked. I took our screen down, and hung the feeder to a window-clinging cedar thingamajig. The ants can't climb the glass and have to stay below eating the droplets that have fallen. But the hummers still don't care as long as they get food. By the way, does anyone know how to keep wasps/bees/yellowjackets off hummers feeders, hypothetically speaking.

[humminbird]

What type of feeder are you using?

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[crickieheather]

Wasps and bees are drawn to sugar water drips as well as the color yellow. Your best bet is to buy a Hummzinger. It is a dish-type design so it doesn't drip, and it has no yellow on it. It also has the built-in ant moat. If you simply can't buy another feeder, try filling it a bit less full (to prevent dripping), and removing all the little yellow bits.
Here's a link to the hummzimger website: http://www.aspectsinc.com/2_Hummingbird.htm

And the cheapest place to buy the large one online: http://www.cooperseeds.com/viewitem.php3?prod=330

[humminbird]

I would agree with Crickieheather although there are ways other feeders can be made less attractive to bees.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[DavidP]

Are you aware that the company themselves does not recommend using tanglefoot if there is any chance at all that the birds can come in contact with it? Since there are numerous reports (and I have seen) of hummingbirds perching on the wires above the feeders (not to mention other birds doing the same) I would not recommend this.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

I think its Ok as the tanglefoot is actually inside the cup of the bottle top and not directly on the wire, so its actually recessed inside the cup so no possibility of the bird perching on the tanglefoot, I guess it could stick its bill into it. I just had a problem with the vaseline metling on me and this seems tot work and is less messy.
Thanks for the heads up
Dave

[CBSlayer2004]

It has yellow flower shaped cups to get the drink, perfect for bees right? Anywho,

[humminbird]

I never could understand why the feeder companies insist on putting the yellow flowers on their feeders. If it were me, since yellow is highly attractive to insects and I am having trouble with bees, I would ditch that feeder and get one that does not have the yellow flowers. They may cost a little more, but the lack of frustration is worth it.
I would also look for a saucer type and get the internal bee guards AND use them.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[Cris]

As the title goes, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, at least 2 males, have finally found my hummer feeder. But the problem is(there always is a problem with my feeders, is that the stupid freaky little ants found it also, how the heck do I get them away, it's hanging from a close hanger at my house roof. I don't know how they found it.

In the May 2005 issue of the Birds and Blooms magazine it has a small part titled Pest control it has a picture of a ant proof hummingbird feeder stand and it tells you how to make one and what you need to make it. It doesn't look very good but who cares if it works. if any one else has this problem i would recommend getting this magazine and making one of these stands (If you don't want to do it the easy way and get a feeder with a ant moat.).This has to be safer to the humminbirds than vasseline or any type of chemical.

[humminbird]

Agreed Chris. The saucer style feeders, for the most part, come with a built in ant moat. CBSLAYER is in GA I believe, so they would have to use water and probably mineral oil in an ant moat anyway, simply because of rapid evaporation.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[CBSlayer2004]

I got another feeder for the hummers, and put vasoline on it, for ant profness. The hummers seem happy, except when they fight constantly.

[Katy Penland]

LOL, well, that's what hummers seem to do a lot of the time -- fight! ;) CB, maybe you missed Mark's post above (#4) cautioning against the use of petroleum-based products like Vaseline around hummer feeders?

[snowyowl]

This might be good time to raise the subject of feeder style. What is the best design for the birds? I thought that the ones sold by Droll Yankee were shown by testing to be the most effective. I need a new feeder so I'd like to hear opinions before I buy.

[CBSlayer2004]

I read the advice, but couldn't find anything else to do, sorry. About the style, I'm new with hummers, but I do know gardensong is pretty good.

[humminbird]

My advice when it comes to feeders is:
1) buy one that comes apart easily for cleaning
2) if it has an ant guard keep the ant guard FULL
3) if it has internal bee guards introduce them one at a time

Other than that, it is my opinion that the ones that have the ball bearing stopper in the hanging tube eventually leak terribly, so I avoid them. I don't care what the thing looks like, as long as it works.

Mark
Bastrop, TX