Hummingbird Food Recipes

Hummingbird food recipes combined with a few hummingbird feeders and you’re all set to get started in the great hobby of hummingbird watching.

As far as hummingbird food recipes go, there is really only one basic nectar recipe you need to know. That basic hummingbird food recipes uses only sugar and water.

Some people have varied this basic nectar recipe by adding other ingredients to it such as honey and red food coloring. Honey will ferment and produce a fungus that is harmful to the hummingbird, so honey shouldn’t be added at all.

Red food coloring to attract hummingbirds isn’t necessary either in your hummingbird food recipes, as the red plastic on your hummingbird feeder will be enough red to attract hummingbirds to your feeder. Some people also add a length of red ribbon to their feeders to help attract hummingbirds.

The hummingbird food recipes formula:

The formula for hummingbird food recipes is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Hummingbird food recipes always should start by boiling the water first. This makes it easier to dissolve the sugar and to purify the solution so that it will stay fresh longer. Bring the water to a boil and stir in the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Boil for no longer than 2 minutes. If you boil the nectar too long, too much water will be lost and change the concentration of sugar in the nectar. Homemade hummingbird nectar made with this 1 to 4 ratio will more closely match the nectar found in nature. The more water you boil out the sweeter the mix becomes. A sweeter nectar will be more attractive to bees.

Once your hummingbird food recipes is cooled you can pour it into your feeder. Left over nectar can be refrigerated for up to2 weeks before being used. Once the feeder is placed outdoors your nectar will last 5 or 6 days in moderate weather but only 2 to 4 days in hot weather. In temperatures above 90 degrees it should be changed every day. If you leave it out any longer than this it will turn cloudy and develop mold. Then you will have to brush the mold out of the feeder.

When changing the nectar, the feeder should be rinsed thoroughly with warm tap water to remove any contamination or built up sugar.

Your feeder should be cleaned about once a week. This can be done by rinsing it with a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water. After rinsing with the vinegar solution, rinse the feeder three times with clear, warm water before refilling with nectar.

Best hummingbird feeder

To make life easier you should choose a feeder that’s easy to clean.

 My favorite hummingbird feeder, to use with hummingbird food recipes, that's easy to take apart and clean is the HummZinger Ultra

 
Aspects 12oz Hummzinger Ultra With Nectar Guard

 It's only $28.18 and  has several features that  makes it well worth the price.

The HummZinger has patented Nectar guard tips which are flexible membranes attached to the feed ports that prohibit entry from flying insects, but allow Hummingbirds to feed as usual. The HummZinger also has a built in ant moat that will stop crawling insects from getting to the nectar. It also has raised flower ports that divert rain.

This mid-size nectar feeder has a 12 oz. capacity and can be hung or post mounted with hardware provided. It has four feeding ports for hummingbirds and is made of unbreakable polycarbonate. Easy to clean.

For ease of cleaning and protection from bees, wasps and ants, this feeder can't be beat.

Keep your nectar fresh and your feeders clean and you will be rewarded with lots of exciting hummingbird traffic.

Enjoy your hummingbirds and I hope you enjoyed this article on hummingbird food recipes.

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