Keeping Ants Out of a Hummingbird Feeder?

attosa
Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,246 Posts

July 3, 20180 found this helpful

You could make an ant moat. Here is a how-to:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6TsmQ965qY

cybergrannie
Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks

July 4, 20180 found this helpful

What a nuisance these pesky ants can be but sometimes you can just move the feeder to another spot (even close by) and it will deter ants - for a while anyway.

• A lot of people just put Vaseline on the cord/hook/wire above the feeder but this can get very messy, especially in hot weather. Vaseline also has to be reapplied quite often and you have to be very careful to not let it get anywhere near a spot where a hummer could get it on their feet or wings.
• I have seen feeders with the water moat attached but if you do not need new feeders then there are several ways to make your own moat.
• Here are a couple of links that have clear instructions for several styles and all are easy to make.
• www.birdwatching-bliss.com/how-to-keep-ants-out-of-hummingbird...
• dengarden.com/.../Prevent-Ants-on-Hummingbird-feeders

Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts

July 4, 20180 found this helpful

Apply Vaseline or an oily liqiid on the side of the feeder

Pghgirl40
Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 196 Feedbacks

July 4, 20180 found this helpful

The moat is probably the least dangerous to the eco system, depending on how you do it.

Even though vaseline works, the birds may be harmed by it my mistake. So I discourage that and any oil product.

This site talks about other solutions like setting up a sweeter second feeder and moving the feeder around. Sadly, I gave up on all of my feeders 3 summers ago because the fixes to most issues seemed too labor intensive or worse, to mess with mother nature too much. It made me sad, but it worked for me.

httpss://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/humm/bees_at_feeder.html