The flower nectar that hummingbirds feed on
contains about the same percentage of sugar as the nectar that we will be
making.
How to make hummingbird
water sugar solution:
Add your water and sugar to a pan and start to boil. Stir the mixture as
you’re waiting for the mixture to start boiling, to dissolve the sugar.
The purpose of boiling the hummingbird nectar is to release any chlorine
that might be in the water and to kill any bacteria or mold spores that
might be in the sugar, which will cause your nectar to ferment and have to
be changed sooner.
Boiling for about 2 minutes will be long enough to accomplish this. If
you continue to boil the water, you will boil away more of the water and end
up with a sweeter nectar. The hummingbirds will like the sweeter nectar, but
bees and wasps will also be more attracted to it and may keep your
hummingbirds from using the feeder.
If you make more nectar than you can use at one time, you can keep the
extra nectar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks before using it up.
Clear nectar will work just fine if you have red on your feeder. There is
controversy about whether or not the red dye in food coloring is harmful to
the hummingbirds, so be on the safe side and leave it out of your homemade
water sugar solution. If there is no red on your feeder you can tie strips
of red ribbon to the feeder to attract hummingbirds.
Once your hummingbird water sugar solution is made and your feeder is hung, the next thing you will
need to do is to make sure the nectar stays fresh and your feeder stays
clean. You will have to put fresh nectar in your feeder every once in a
while. Each time you change the nectar, rinse your hummingbird feeder out
with hot water to help keep it clean.
The sugar in the nectar will ferment as it ages and mold will grow in the
nectar and on your feeder if the nectar isn’t changed often enough.
The chart below will show you how often you will have to change the
nectar. The outside temperature will determine how long your hummingbird
sugar water will keep before it goes bad.
If you notice your nectar starting to look cloudy, you know it’s time to
change it.
Hummingbird water sugar solution chart:
High temperatures............Change sugar
solution after
71-75.................................6 days
76-80.................................5 days
81-84.................................4 days
85-88.................................3 days
89-92.................................2 days
93+....................................change daily
If your feeder does get moldy you will have to soak it in a mild bleach
solution for an hour to kill the mold. Take a gallon of water and add 1/4
cup bleach to soak your feeder in. After it’s done soaking, be sure to rinse
your feeder several times with running water to remove all the bleach water
before filling with fresh nectar. You may also have to scrub the mold loose
from your feeder with small
hummingbird feeder brushes.
One of my favorite Hummingbird feeders 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.
Good luck feeding your hummingbirds and I hope you enjoyed this article
on hummingbird water sugar solution.
Click the link for more
hummingbird
water sugar solution articles.
