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Use Mint Extract to Deter Wasps from Feeder

The best solution I have found for keeping bees and wasps away from hummingbird feeders is mint extract of some sort. After I wash the feeders, and before I fill them, I take a Q-tip, dip it in the extract, and apply it to the ports. I also apply to the edge where the bottle comes in contact with the bottom, and, if applicable, along the seal created when putting top and bottoms together.

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This simple solution worked the first time I used it and has worked ever since. Using extracts can be costly. My tiny bottle lasted for over three years, and yes, it froze during the winter months.

I haven't tried rubbing fresh mint leaves to the ports, etc., but I am sure this would also work.

Source: I cannot recall exactly where online I found this solution. Perhaps hummingbird(s).net

By leeanne collins from Clio, MI

Use Mint Extract to Deter Wasps from Feeder
 

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August 26, 20131 found this helpful
Top Comment

Any kind of mint extract can be used. I used peppermint extract at first but had to purchase mint when peppermint was no longer available.

BTW, this deters bees, wasps, and yellow jackets.

 
May 11, 20170 found this helpful

Can I use peppermint essential oil?

 

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November 19, 20170 found this helpful

There are many kinds of mint, the peppermint is just one kind, but real natural mint extract is extremely strong and actually burns and suffocates. It is used to stop panic attacks but only by breathing it never putting it on the skin so I doubt that it is safe for birds unless it is a chemical product instead of the true mint essential oil.

 
Anonymous
August 6, 20210 found this helpful

Is this safe for may hummingbirds

 
August 25, 20210 found this helpful

Thank you so much, Im trying fresh leaves first. Jackie from Hastings, Mi

 
Anonymous
May 10, 20220 found this helpful

Everything ive read says mint repels birds too-

 
June 10, 20161 found this helpful
Top Comment

I tried unscented wax around the flowers on the feeder and that helped but then I tried the peppermint oil and it is amazing. I apply it with a cotton swab lightly occasionally and the bees won't even land and the hummingbirds are free to feed. When bees start landing again refresh the oil

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Works like a charm. Thank you so much
Doug

 
August 2, 20162 found this helpful
Top Comment

I just took a Q-Tip soaked with peppermint oil & rubbed it on top of the feeders, away from the ports. The wasps, who had taken over, are nowhere to be found. Worth the money to invest in the oil & it's not harmful for the birds.

 
July 9, 20190 found this helpful

I just used the Peppermint Oil on my feeders and I now have more bees then I already had.

 
August 13, 20160 found this helpful
Top Comment

I did not have any peppermint oil but i did find some essential oils of my wife had one of the main ingredients is spearmint, i put around the feeder with a cue tip and not one bill has landed on it....thought i would share cause the bees were chasing my hummers away

 
August 14, 20161 found this helpful
Top Comment

Ok, as suggested by someone on this site, or maybe another, I took fresh mint and blended it with vegetable oil. Then I strained it leaving only minty oil. I put it all over the outside of feeders (including the top of the feeders where they eat EXCEPT the holes), around the seals and on the bottom where syrup can drip. I took a q-tip and dipped it in the solution and then squeezed the q-tip so that it wasn't soaked and went around the feeder holds with this and slightly in the holes, but the q-tip wasn't wet enough to leave any oil for ingestion for the birds. The birds have NO PROBLEM with this (see gardening-for-life.com on this subject), but the bees had problems. I had swarms of 300-400 honey bees. In my endeavors to keep them off the hummer feeders, at least 50 bees lost their lives. I tried to feed them a mixture of sugar water too. I put it in a container and put rocks in the middle so they could get on the rocks and dip their noses into the water, but the swarm became much greater (up to 500 bees) and they pushed each other into the water.

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Before I discovered this, many had died. I felt so terrible. So I stopped feeding them and this cut them in half, but the others still wanted the hummer feeders. It took 3-4 days, but most lost interest and moved on. You must keep applying, especially when it rains, but bees do not like this oil/mint mixture. I had about 25-30 hummers before the bees took over. I now have maybe ten. Again, I feel really bad about those bees and I was trying to accommodate them by feeding them too, but that was just inviting the entire neighborhood. I have a beekeeper less than 1/4 of a mile from here with approx. 10 hives. Anyway, problem solved. I did use mint from my herb garden. I probably used 15-20 leaves and a quarter to a half cup of oil. I am satisfied because the birds are happy again.

 

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November 19, 20122 found this helpful

This does sound like a quick and inexpensive solution for my bee problem. I have tried lots of other things and they don't really work. I will remember to give this a try next spring.

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I do have some mint extract and also fresh mint growing. If this worked for you, hopefully it will also work for me. Thanx for the tip.

 
August 20, 20161 found this helpful
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Thank you for this! I didn't have immediate access to mint extract, but I made a little poltice out of ground up mint leaves *my handy mortar and pestle* plus a little oil and water. I rubbed it onto my hummingbird feeder after removing the yellow plastic "flowers" and the bees were immediately put off by it. I even saw them cleaning their feet before they left! The hummingbirds flew in immediately making up for lost time. THANK YOU! It worked miracles!

 
August 3, 20132 found this helpful

Can I use peppermint extract?

 
June 16, 20140 found this helpful

Are you sure the mint extract is safe for the hummingbirds?

 
July 13, 20150 found this helpful

I tried to mint extract...tripled my number of bees.

 
April 8, 20170 found this helpful

What kind of mint extract did you use? Did you dilute it any?

 
Anonymous
November 19, 20170 found this helpful

There are sugary mint extracts.

 

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November 19, 20170 found this helpful

If it is the mint extract you make drinks with it is sugary and doesn't have much to do with the actual plant essential oil.

 
July 18, 20150 found this helpful

This is not a good idea. It is not safe for the hummies. When do they ingest mint and get mint extracts on themselves in in nature? The harm potential is worse then the bees. Do not try.

 
October 8, 20150 found this helpful
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I apply the mint extract on the petals of the fake flowers, around the fake flowers, and where the bottle and lower halves of the feeding base joins. The extract has dried well before I fill and hang the feeders. I do not see how the hummers can ingest the extract or get it on their wings.

 
August 14, 20161 found this helpful
Top Comment

gardening-for-life.com is a site that uses info from the Audubon Society. Mint is a food source. Hummers are ok around mint.

 

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November 19, 20170 found this helpful
Top Comment

Mint flowers are pollinated by insects so you can say that mint flowers are a food source but we are talking about mint essential oil and if it is true mint essential oil you surely are not going to feed on it neither you nor the birds nor any animal. Mint essential oil is as strong as Vicks VapoRub.

 
Anonymous
April 28, 20160 found this helpful

I grow spearmint , my yard is full of it. Thinking I could rub the mint around the feeder. Hopefully it will work on those nasty wasps

 
June 17, 20160 found this helpful

It sure didnt stop them for me.

 
Anonymous
June 28, 20160 found this helpful

This had no affect on the bees at all. I even put a couple drops on a bee. It didn't care, just kept eating.

 
July 20, 20160 found this helpful

How often do you have to put the mint extract on the feeder?

 
July 23, 20160 found this helpful

I tried Vaseline first ,and it didn't work. Then I tried mint extract and it didn't work ! What should I try next ?

 
July 29, 20161 found this helpful

its toxic to hummingbirds and if it gets on there feathers sorry to say there gonna be easy snacks for cats

 
August 10, 20160 found this helpful

I tried fresh mint.No help at all.I'm starting to think I should take them down.Any other suggestions?

 
August 12, 20160 found this helpful

Hi - just tried fresh mint - rubbed on all the ports but within minutes, they were back. Will try the mint oil

 
Anonymous
August 18, 20160 found this helpful

Thank you!!! It's working!

 
August 21, 20160 found this helpful

It did not work for my feeders! Used real mint and it made no difference to the bees

 
August 21, 20160 found this helpful

Believe it or not. I filled a zip lock bag 1/3 full of water added some pennies and hung it near the humming bird feeder. NO BEES!!

 
August 24, 20160 found this helpful

where do I get the mint extract?

 
August 25, 20160 found this helpful

I tried the mint extract and it didn't work. But, when I spread the mint on the feeder and then sprinkle cinnamon on top, the bees were gone in less than an hour.

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The mixture doesn't seem to bother the hummers either.

 
August 30, 20160 found this helpful

I have spearmint and peppermint essential oils... which should I use around the outlets and base of the feeders?

 
August 31, 20160 found this helpful

i would be careful and wary of using mint essential oils- as an herbalist we don't allow children under age 7 to use essential oils bc they are too concentrated - so i believe essential oils would be far too much for hummers. you can soak mint leaves in a cheesecloth in side a mason jar filled with water over night (strain the bag and remove from jar in morning) to create a mint decoction that should be safe to for our tiny hummer friends and help keep bees and wasps away

 
September 1, 20160 found this helpful

It's true that the wasps and bees didn't bother the feeder, but the hummingbirds didn't like it either.

 
September 2, 20160 found this helpful

I just used fresh mint and it seems to be working great. Thanks for the idea. I actually left a sprig of mint on the top of the feeder. Yeah!

 
Anonymous
September 9, 20160 found this helpful

I used fresh mint leaves and did not work ,unless, You rub the feeder every couple of minutes..

 
September 16, 20160 found this helpful

Mint dose not work

 
Anonymous
September 23, 20160 found this helpful

I filled my feeder the other day with orange cake coloring and bees are all over it. I didn't want to take feeder down to change because hummer's were using it before, so I taped a swab on a dowel so I could stand back without getting stung.

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I soaked the swab in pure mint extract and went around the feeder and little on florets. Bees left but came back but not in full force. Waiting to see if it does any good.

 
September 26, 20160 found this helpful

Defiance bees like mint extract! Now what?

 
September 26, 20160 found this helpful

Crushed mint leaves worked for me, within 10 minutes one of my feeders was bee free.

 
October 17, 20160 found this helpful

Mint only attracted more bees to my feeder! This solution does not work! I have finally given up and taken all my hummer feeders down.

 
October 24, 20160 found this helpful

Didn't work on the AZ bees. Only attracted more.

 
Anonymous
April 18, 20170 found this helpful

Going to try it ty

 
May 25, 20170 found this helpful

I tried the q-tip, and also tried pouring the extract into a spary bottle, and sprayed down the entire feeder. As soon as it dried they were back. Actually they never left. Just kept flying around and trying to land. When it dried they landed and won't go away.

 
Anonymous
June 11, 20170 found this helpful

I wonder if a person mixed mint extract with vasoline if that would work?

 
June 4, 20170 found this helpful

I haven't tried this yet, but read Vaseline on the rod your feeder is on and this should stop them.

 
June 23, 20170 found this helpful

Don't use Vaseline or oils. It can get on the bird's feathers. Not good.

 
June 6, 20200 found this helpful

I put a few drops of peppermint oil in the water in my ant moat. Seems to have done the trick.

 
August 14, 20200 found this helpful

I works! And the hummers dont seem to be bothered by it
Thank you!

 
August 14, 20200 found this helpful

I works! And the hummers dont seem to be bothered by it
Thank you!

 
Anonymous
November 4, 20200 found this helpful

I wonder if Pine Sol would work too?

 
December 1, 20200 found this helpful

Thank you for the tip about mint on the hummingbird feeder. I had a roller bottle that I used for headaches so I rubbed it on my finger and then spread it on the feeder . No more bees , they really dont like the mint.

 
June 11, 20210 found this helpful

Will using the mint extract keep the hummingbirds away or not?

 
July 23, 20210 found this helpful

Just tried using peppermint oil (undiluted) and it looks like it is working well.
The hummingbirds seem to be OK with the scent but didn't like the saturated q-tip being left on the feeder.

 
August 10, 20210 found this helpful

I have a problem with your article! You talk about bees, then you show a picture of a yellow jacket which is NOT a bee. I see bees on my flowers, and yellow jackets, on my humming bird feeders. There is a big difference. You can get stung by a yellow jacket several times, while a bee can only sting once then they die.
ps. I don't use Facebook etc.! Just E-Mail.!

 
August 25, 20210 found this helpful

Just used Spearmint oil & Pachuli oil. 5 minutes & they were gone!!!! Thanks, friend!!!

 
September 4, 20210 found this helpful

Is mint extract the same as peppermint extract?

 

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September 4, 20210 found this helpful

Yes, peppermint and spearmint extract are both mint extracts.

 
September 5, 20220 found this helpful

I had hornets at both of my feeders and it was making it impossible to enjoy my deck. I read that citronella is more nutritious for hummers than homemade nectar, so I would pick a citronella leaf for each feeder, crush it a little to release the aroma, then poke it into one of the holes of the feeders. The hornets come by once in awhile, but they leave right away. I just have to remember to do this every morning !!!

 

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