Homemade Hummingbird Nectar (1 Viewer)

Bird_Bill

Well-known member

• May 13, 2014

• #1

Hello everyone, just a seasonal reminder as feathered jewels work their way back up northward.
Standard 1 part pure white cane sugar to 4 parts water.
Very closely mimics natural nectar in sucrose and in transparent color.
Many other members have provided thoughts on feeder hints that are very helpful, elsewhere in the forum.
Keeping feeders clean is as important as feeding, articles here in BF on that subject also.

All about birds article...Feeding Hummingbirds

 

Chris D

Well-known member

• May 14, 2014

• #2

Well put. C&H Sugar - from Hawaii - has a classic mill in Crocket, California. I always highly recommend the sugar. Crocket is fun too..... The town also famous (for at least 5 people) as the home of Aldo Ray - Sergeant Muldoon in 'The Green Berets'. His name is carved on a bar stool there.

 

Bird_Bill

Well-known member

• May 15, 2014

• #3

Aldo Ray, Humphrey Bogart, and Peter Ustinov were in arguably
one of the greatest animal flics ever with "We're no Angels".
Sudden cold front here has temps close to high 40's.
Bumped up sugar content in todays refill by about 10%,
cold seems to have turned off insect hatches, with no females in neighborhood yet

 

Chris D

Well-known member

• May 15, 2014

• #4

Possibly 100 degrees here today. Temps will fall tomorrow. Freakishly hot in Southern California - hence the fires. I have my summer Anna's and your cousins (Black-chinns) here till' they're joined by Rufous heading south in August.

 

S

scobrown

Active member

• Jun 22, 2014

• #5

What about beet sugar, instead of cane?

 

Bird_Bill

Well-known member

• Jun 22, 2014

• #6

scobrown said:

What about beet sugar, instead of cane?

Click to expand...

Essentially the same, both sucrose. I've never used it. Since the 80's when I first started feeding, it was using white cane sugar at the 1:4, sugar/water ratio. That was drilled into my head, so it's force of habit. Continually seeing the same recommendations for 30 odd years, has myself reluctant to change.

Suppose for sake of argument that the cane product requiring less
processing, is a product closer to natural nectar, versus beet sugar.
Purely aesthetics, though. (I'll be "beet" to death on that)