31-07-2025
This common mistake could be attracting bees to your hummingbird feeder, but it's easy to fix
Hummingbirds love to dive in and devour the sticky sugar and water nectar in hummingbird feeders. But, while these beautiful birds feed, there's another insect that wants to take a snack.
Bees also love this sweet treat as it mimics the natural nectar found in flowers, and just like it does with hummingbirds, it provides them with a rich source of energy.
While the occasional bee won't be an issue, if a swarm arrives, the hummingbirds will be deterred from feeding and will seek their food source elsewhere.
However, there is a way to discourage bees from feeding on your hummingbird nectar by simply making one change to your hummingbird nectar recipe.
While the standard recipe includes sugar and water, the key is changing the ratio of ingredients. Dan DeBaun, bird blogger at Dan's Bird Bites, told Tom's Guide that the ideal hummingbird nectar contains one part table sugar with four parts water.
And to make the nectar, you don't need to use boiling water, as long as it's hot enough to dissolve the sugar and left to cool to room temperature before adding to your feeder.
But to keep the bees at bay, there's a simple change you can make to your nectar recipe by changing the sugar-to-water ratio.
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All it takes is changing the ratio to one part sugar to five parts water. This easy adjustment will dilute the sugar and make it less attractive to bees, while still encouraging hummingbirds to feed.
This smart hummingbird feeder provides a safe space for the birds to feed. You can capture video and photos of the tiny backyard creatures and it's all powered by solar energy. The Bird Buddy app then uses Ai to identify hummingbirds and other species, with real-time alerts.
However, if this isn't enough to deter the bees from your hummingbird feeder, there are other tactics you can employ. Birds & Blooms suggests planting pollinator-friendly plants near your feeder to encourage the bees to dive into the plants rather than the feeder.
Meanwhile, Home Sweet Bees recommends using a red hummingbird feeder without yellow in the design, as yellow is a big draw to bees, but they are less attracted to the color red than hummingbirds.
Home Sweet Bees also suggests placing a decoy feeder in another location and filling it with a stronger sugar solution than you would use for your hummingbird nectar. The bees will be enticed by the sweeter nectar and leave your hummingbirds to feed alone.
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