“How do I keep bees away from my feeder?” That has to be a contender for our MOST most frequently asked question!
An Unfortunately Common Problem
Are you having trouble with bees or wasps drinking from your feeder? Unfortunately, it is rare to find a hummingbird feeder of any brand or model that isn’t plagued by bees and/or wasps from time to time. This is especially true in the summer heat!
Does Sweet Feeders have a Solution? – YES!
Thankfully, the unique design of Sweet Feeders lends itself to a unique solution to this problem! Because the wire we use is slightly pliable, you can tilt the bottle holders to move the nectar away from the opening of the bottle top. Make sure to read and follow all steps:
Step 1:
Fill your bottles about three-fourths of the way full and cap them. A bit more than three-fourths is okay, but you want to make sure there’s a gap of air between the sugar water and the cap.
Step 2:
Make sure to rinse any drips of sugar water off of the bottles! This may seem trivial, but it’s amazing how little sugar it takes to attract bees. Even if you follow the third step and the bees can’t get to the liquid inside the bottle, if there is sugar water splashed on the outside, they may still spend time on your feeder!
Step 3:
Insert the bottle into your feeder, and then tilt the bottle upward until one edge of the sugar water line touches the inside base of the red tip (see picture below). This creates a natural barrier, as keeping the nectar away from the hole in the tip prevents the bee or wasp from being able to reach it. At the same time, your hummers can still drink! Their tongues stretch out well past their beaks, so reaching the nectar shouldn’t be a problem.
We hope this is helpful! Try this quick and simple trick today if you are having trouble with bees. Or – go ahead and implement this tip preventatively, so that you don’t have to worry about bees and wasps on your feeder at all!
One last tip: for a no-spill filling solution, check out the sidebar for our recommended Amazon bottle pumps!
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The feeder featured in this post is our Modern Four Station Spiral Feeder.
