topic Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders in Garden

Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Wahoogaz — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 21:07:32 GMT

Never had this problem before ... yesterday and today, bees have been hogging all 4 hummingbird feeders ... so much so, that the birds haven't had much of a chance to feed. Any tricks to keeping the bees away?

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

fthunt — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 22:54:33 GMT

Depends on the type of Hbird feeders you have. Some styles do allow bugs, bees and ants to feed. Mine is flat type with 4 holes for birds to eat - the tall hanging style drops the sweet juice and it calls all insects in. Also the juice is sweet sugar and sticky and if it's dripping down - not much you can do except get a new style and keep it clean as possible.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

itsmagic — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 23:06:58 GMT

I’ve had bees at my feeder too especially late summer. I’ve got an ant moat to keep ants from crawling into it but I haven’t figured out how to keep bees away.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

tipsy — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 03:31:58 GMT

@itsmagic wrote:
I’ve had bees at my feeder too especially late summer. I’ve got an ant moat to keep ants from crawling into it but I haven’t figured out how to keep bees away.

There is a brand of feeder that sells bee-guards, they are little plastic things that you stick into the holes. The hummingbirds can still eat but not the bees. Sorry I can't tell you what the brand is because my sister bought me the feeder & put the bee-guards in. The moat is great at keeping the ants out!

I also have an oriole feeder, which is the hanging kind. I haven't gotten too many bees & they haven't been bothersome this year. But I'm getting ants so I take the feeder down every night & wash it out. I put fresh nectar in in the morning & hang it back out. The orioles will be leaving soon so I won't have to do this much longer!

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Wahoogaz — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 18:21:37 GMT

Not sure what's going on. Same style feeders we've been using for years ... maybe the local bee population has exploded this summer. We'd always get the occasional bee at the feeders, but the past 3 days or so they've been swarming. The bees were bad enough yesterday afternoon (i.e. tons of them) that the hummingbirds kept leaving.

I went to Walmart this morning and was able to get 2 feeders that have bee guards on them. My husband put one out a little while ago - so far, the bees are checking it out but not hanging around it too long. The other 3 feeders probably had at least 20 bees on them. I'd hate to have them scare the hummingbirds away.

We've already got ant guards on all the feeders, so we solved the ant problem.

If the bee guard feeders work out, I'll definitely be getting more. I thought I also saw something online that you could get the bee guards to put on your existing feeders.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Still Raining — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 18:33:16 GMT

Second vote for the type with built in guards.

I had had problems with ants that learned to swim this summer. Unreal. Never happened before.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Drythe — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 18:34:24 GMT

I’ve sprayed the ports lightly with regular Pam. Didn’t slow down Hummers, but bees don’t like.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Wahoogaz — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 18:44:19 GMT

@Drythe wrote:
I’ve sprayed the ports lightly with regular Pam. Didn’t slow down Hummers, but bees don’t like.

Hmmm, I may have to give that a try on one and see how it goes.

I'm also wondering if we take the feeders down for a day or two, will the bees move on ...

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Wahoogaz — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 19:51:14 GMT

@Drythe wrote:
I’ve sprayed the ports lightly with regular Pam. Didn’t slow down Hummers, but bees don’t like.

Wow, I sprayed the feeders with Pam about 30 minutes ago. Bees came back and buzzed around for a minute or two and they haven't been back yet. A couple of hummingbirds stopped by the feeders and drank - so they don't seem to mind. So far, this is a good solution.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Mistic — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 16:54:51 GMT

I have Hornets & Flies. Just sprayed the Pam. Fingers Crossed. TY

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Wahoogaz — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 01:05:24 GMT

@Wahoogaz wrote:
@Drythe wrote:
I’ve sprayed the ports lightly with regular Pam. Didn’t slow down Hummers, but bees don’t like.
Wow, I sprayed the feeders with Pam about 30 minutes ago. Bees came back and buzzed around for a minute or two and they haven't been back yet. A couple of hummingbirds stopped by the feeders and drank - so they don't seem to mind. So far, this is a good solution.

Update:

The Pam I sprayed yesterday was only effective for about an hour in this southern NM sun. After that, the bees returned.

My husband read on a couple of sites that putting bee feeders near the hummingbird feeders would keep the bees away from the HB feeders. I didn't like the idea of putting out a bee feeder, but agreed to put it out when the bees started returning this morning. It took them a while to find the bee feeder this morning, but once they did they seemed to like it better than the HB feeders. I checked again in about an hour and instead of having a few dozen buzzing around - we had a few hundred ... which is what I was afraid would happen. So, that experiment failed. Luckily, I didn't get stung when I took down all the feeders. We went to a local wild bird store this afternoon and got some HB feeders with internal bee guards. I'm leaving the HB feeders down for the day and will put up the new feeders tomorrow morning. The hummingbirds aren't happy, but at least the bees are gone ... for now. Fingers-crossed the new feeders will be a hit with the birds ... but not the bees.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

OhioAngel — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:16:52 GMT

We had this happen and finally had to get rid of our Hummy Feeder!

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

silkyk — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:36:36 GMT

A Caution about using oils:

Many people have found that applying cooking oils and sprays to the outside of the feeder ports deters bees, wasps, and other insects. Be very careful if you do this. These tiny birds expend enormous amounts of energy. They need to feed constantly and have little margin for error when it comes to making a livelihood. Oil that accidentally gets on the hummingbird while feeding or during feeder fights can spell disaster when it comes time to preen their feathers. Birds produce their own oils for preening and additional oils can cause their feathers to become matted, which reduces their ability to fly and keep warm. If you decide to use oil on your feeder, please use it with caution.

Another tip....get rid of those yellow tips on the end of the feeders....they attract bees.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

Wahoogaz — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:10:33 GMT

@silkyk wrote:
A Caution about using oils:
Many people have found that applying cooking oils and sprays to the outside of the feeder ports deters bees, wasps, and other insects. Be very careful if you do this. These tiny birds expend enormous amounts of energy. They need to feed constantly and have little margin for error when it comes to making a livelihood. Oil that accidentally gets on the hummingbird while feeding or during feeder fights can spell disaster when it comes time to preen their feathers. Birds produce their own oils for preening and additional oils can cause their feathers to become matted, which reduces their ability to fly and keep warm. If you decide to use oil on your feeder, please use it with caution.

Another tip....get rid of those yellow tips on the end of the feeders....they attract bees.

That's what the folks at the wild bird store told me yesterday about using the Pam spray.

I've got the 4 new feeders out this morning. So far, just the normal amount of bees stopping by and they seem more interested in the water fountain than the feeders. Hummingbirds have also stopped by to feed in the new feeders.

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

silkyk — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:45:57 GMT

Combine your/my fountain (red from Kmart) with hummers and this is what ya get!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sYlCIZjlFc

Re: Bees At Hummingbird Feeders

ValuSkr — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:53:06 GMT

I don't like the spraying-with-Pam idea either. Maybe you need to get a saucer-type feeder - the kind where the hummer's long tongue is needed to reach the nectar. I've had one from Hummzinger for many years and don't get bees.