Garden

[mare54]

I love my hummers and I love bees but how do you keep the bees off the hummingbird feeders? I read somewhere bees like the yellow color which is on most feeders. Any suggestions. I live in Utah so it's dry and hot. When we lived in Texas, the problem didn't seem so bad. Thanks 

[Mary Bailey]

I spray down the feeders with water to keep the bees off.  I've been lucky this year with bees & the feeders.

Don't ask me about cicadas

[Jk9]

Our trouble wasn't bees but yellow jackets!  So I put up several "Fatal Funnel" bottles with specific attractant to trap the yellow jackets and hornets.  These work beautifully and help keep down the number of yellow jackets around our property.  You can google the funnels and get recipes for the liquid to put in the bottles.

[geezerette]

Some hummingbird feeders have bee guards that go over the spout.  The hummingbirds can get their beaks down into the liquid, but the bees can't reach it and soon give up.

[sabatini]

Hi, @mare54. It's the upside down bottle type of feeders that the bees go for since the nectar is easily accessible.

Try using the saucer type of feeder for now. Switch back to the original in a few weeks, once they've moved on.

[Icegoddess]

When I got a new Perky Pet Hummingbird Feeder a couple of years ago they changed the design by making the opening of the glass container larger.  Easier to clean, but, for some reason it dripped.  When I replaced the center of the flowers with the bee guards that were from my old feeder's flowers, it stopped drippng.  Go figure. No idea why that happened.  But, I keep the bee guards on that one.  

I have two other smaller feeders, or it seems smaller, but it has a reservoir so even though the glass jar is smaller, it dumps into the reservoir and it's difficult to tell when it gets empty.  That one has white flowers on top of the reservoir and they are not bee guard flowers.  

All that to say I've never really had a problem with bees or other flying insects at the feeder.  I'm wondering if they're looking for water rather than sugar since OP lives in a drier climate.  If so, simply adding a shallow dish with water and rocks so they don't drown might be an answer.  

The problem I have is ants.  I now have an ant moat above my feeder.  It's a really pretty clear red moat that looks rather like a vase of sorts and has a double-sided hook going through the middle. Ants come down the hook and encounter water and go back up.  The bottom hook holds the feeder.  The only problem is, the hook my husband put in to hang all this from is too close to the gutter and the edge of the moat is very close to the gutter and the larger ants have figured that one out.  I need to add a few chain links to lower it a bit so they can't make the reach.  

[Mary Bailey]

@Icegoddess   ants were my nemisis too.  I used to have 9 hummingbird feeders, but the ants spoiled everything.

So far the ones I have on the soffit in front of the TV room picture window have not be comprimised.  I hate ants! 

[Texas Gray Wolf]

Saucer feeders are the way to go since they do not push the nectar out..........Ever since I replaced the bottle-type feeders with the saucer-type feeders, I do not have any wasps or bees.

[Jk9]

We have ant moats on all our feeders and they work very well.  There are several models and colors available.  You just need to keep water in the moats.  We also have rain shields that hang above the both the moats and feeders.  Fortunately, we have enough space on all the free standing posts and hooks for the rain shields, moats and feeders to hang one under the other.    

I hang the soft drink bottles with the yellow jacket attractant nearby the feeders.  We haven't had a problem with honey bees coming to the hummingbird feeders, just yellow jackets.  We're in upstate SC btw.

[goldensrbest]

Do not hurt the bees.