How to get bees off Hummingbird feeder

It needn't be too difficult in an effort to get bees off a hummingbird feeder, with only a frequent wash of the feeder needed daily.

How to get bees off a hummingbird feeder will begin right away; be sure to wash the feeder using a warm, dripping wet sponge once or twice a day. If nectar is more stubborn, use a hot soapy sponge. Continue with this routine to prevent bees ever visiting the feeder with the presence of sweet nectar on the exterior.

One thing you may not of realized when setting up a hummingbird feeder, is the unwelcome presence of busy bumblebees.

Great as they are pollinators but they can be an nuisance for feeding hummingbirds, and quite often surprise visits by chickadees or orioles.

Clean up the hummingbird feeder body including the perches. Focus attention on the port wells as it this area is where bees swarm around.

Don't use any household chemicals or bleach solutions, only hot soapy water is needed, but only warm water if you maintain the feeder on a daily basis.

In an effort to keep bees well away, be sure to clean up the area below the feeder.

Remove hummingbird feeders well away from areas bees frequent, while a traditional red or even a green feeder is a better option over a yellow theme hummingbird feeder.

How you would get rid of bees on a hummingbird feeder then would be to frequently clean up the device - all while tidying up any spillages or fixing any leaks.

Its important to thoroughly clean individual bee guards featured on, or installed later, on any type of hummingbird feeder. Similarly, don't forget to clean the built-in ant moat on hummingbird feeders, as the trapped sugar will continue be a draw to bees.

Clean up hummingbird feeder body

Major issues with hummingbird feeders is that it attracts bees and insects that are also attracted to the sweet sugary water.

This sugar water becomes accessible on the exterior of the feeder with wear and tear, thus the nectar becomes accessible to not only the hummers, but any bees or ants looking for an easy sip of sweetness.

Its therefore up to you to absolutely keep your hummingbird feeder clean on the outside, more often than you can comprehend.

You only need to wash your hummingbird feeder with a damp, soapy sponge once or twice a week, but what if the issues of bees swarming the feeder continues to reoccur?

To deal with that you must be more pro-active when it comes to cleaning up the feeder.

What I mean by that is, you'll have to continue to clean up the hummingbird feeder once a day to remove any nectar on the outside.

Daily hot water wash

It shouldn't be too difficult to clean up a hummingbird feeder, as a quick daily wash of hot soapy water is all that's needed.

In fact, you don't need soapy water or hot water at all if you were to wash up the sticky mess on the outside twice a day or more with cold water - to beat any possible build up of stubborn nectar settling.

Daily washing of hummingbird feeders can be a major inconvenience, but its certainly a great way of keeping bees off your feeder indefinitely.

It might be a while before bees have disappeared, but if you can keep up with the maintenance, it would only be a matter of hours before bees head off looking for real nectar filled flowers in other people's gardens.

Wash your hummingbird feeder with a dripping wet warm sponge if you can then, while a splash of cold water out of a bucket or jug can maintain you the rest of the day.

In the process, be sure the problem areas with any nectar drippings or leakage is cleaned up on both the feeder, and the ground below it.

Tidy up sugar-water at port holes

Concentrate your hummingbird feeder cleaning routine to precisely deter bees only by washing up the port holes, also known as port wells.

Port wells are where bees swarm on as it the area where nectar is made accessible.

Nectar does gets on the outside where a thorough clean of the exterior is recommended, but the port wells may need a little more of your time and effort.

Its not uncommon to see a pool of nectar built up around the port holes, thus bees will continue to swarm on it until it disappears. Its then up to you to make sure these holes are kept sugar-free.

Quality, top rated hummingbird feeders tend to avoid common leakage or left over nectar, but a feeder can continue to expose the sugary water throughout its use.

If the issue of available nectar on the outside of the feeder persists, I can say it would be made much harder to keep bees away, as they will continue to return to feed on the exposed sugar water.

Cheap, low cost hummingbird feeder replacement may be an option, but then again could the issue of leaking nectar be due to an unstable feeder.

Stabilize feeder

Its probable you have a hanging hummingbird feeder set up in your yard, thus the need to hang it off a bracket or branch is convenient as ever.

Having said that, to hang a feeder, partially a hummingbird feeder that can catch the littlest of breeze - can sway and twist around in the wind.

Hummingbirds tend to have no issue landing on a feeder that moves, but its worth noting hummingbirds do prefer to hover, so make sure it is stabilized as best you can.

As the hummingbird feeder is swung and twisting on its bracket, the nectar in turn is forced out of the feeder via its port wells.

Result is easily accessible sugar water on the outside of the feeder with even more availability of nectar spilled on the ground.

Its vital to stabilize your hummingbird feeder by using additional rope with one to two lengths tied to a corresponding bracket or similar object, in which will prevent any movement as it remains tethered.

Replace yellow color feeders

Now this is not something to consider that much but its worth it if you've exhausted all prevention opportunities mentioned thus far.

Not a lot of people make use of yellow color hummingbird feeders, but if you do you may want to think about swapping it out for a more conventional red, or even a green color feeder.

Bees don't have great eyesight so in turn are attracted to the smell of sugar water, but yellow pollen flowers are what bees tend to be attracted to through behavior, thus its best to avoid yellow hummingbird feeders.

Similarly, if your hummingbird feeders are situated near flowers frequented by bees, then they will continue to land and use the feeder until its well out of the way.

Be sure to replace your yellow feeder with a red one then, well keeping the feeder well clear of flowers visited by bees on a daily basis.

To sum it up

How to get bees off hummingbird feeders is to deter them before they swarm, with only a well maintained feeder keeping bees away.

Bees are attracted to the sweet smell of sugary water, so will visit any feeder that makes this homemade nectar accessible to them.

Over the course of a feeders use, hummingbirds will transfer nectar onto the exterior, where bees will swarm on the feeder body to feed.

If you can maintain your hummingbird feeder body as regularly as possible, the nectar would be cleaned up often so unavailable to bees.

Hot, soapy water would be needed for a feeder that's not maintained often, but if you keep up with a spring clean daily then you only need to wash off the exterior of the feeder with a sponge dripping with warm water only.

Focus of cleaning up a hummingbird feeder will be the perches and area where birds frequent, but bees will swarm the port wells where nectar often sits in place.

Continue to wash or tip the nectar away while in turn, continue to wash away any drips or leaks that land on the ground below the feeder.

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