Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How do I get rid of ants from a hummingbird feeder?
By Sally
It is called an ant trap or oil cup and it hangs between the feeder and whatever you have the feeder hanging on. Ant traps are filled with oil and you should be able to find one wherever you find hummer feeders. 10W30 or some such is the best choice as ants can walk short distances on water.
Please do not use any oil products near a hummingbird feeder. The ant moats are to be filled with water. Please NO VASELINE. Please please do not spray your feeders with Pam spray. Don't put any oils, Vicks Vapor Rub, Pam Cooking Spray, Duct Tape, Off, Skin-so-soft, or Vaseline on your hummingbird feeder. These may work slightly. However, hummingbirds have a tendency to fly around frantically and bump into feeders quite often.
How do you keep the ants out of hummingbird feeders?
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.
Apply Vaseline or an oily liqiid on the side of the feeder
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
Editor's Note: This method of keeping ants out of your hummingbird feeder is no longer recommended as it can cause damage to the birds. You can find more useful ways to keep ants out of your feeders here:
Use packing tape to prevent ants from getting into your hummingbird feeder. This is a page about packing tape to keep ants out of a hummingbird feeder.
It is delightful to watch the hummers as they visit your feeder. But that feeder also attracts ants and bees. Learn how to construct a DIY moat to keep the ants out of your hummingbird feeder.
Fly paper wrapped around the hanger for your hummingbird feeder is one way to keep pesky ants out of the sweet nectar. This is a page about use flypaper for keeping ants out of hummingbird feeders.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
You will need a plastic cap from spray paint or a cosmetics top. Drill a hole in the center of the cap.
How do I keep ants out of my hummingbird feeders?
How can I keep ants out of my hummingbird feeder when it's hanging in a tree? I don't want to harm the tree.
I need help with ants in the hummingbird feeder.
I hung a hummingbird feeder last year, no problem. I hung one this year and the ants took it over. Any suggestions?
Since summer is here, I'm sure a lot of people have hummingbird feeders. Well here's an idea of how to keep ants out. If you have the feeder hanging from a small pole, go out and buy the sticky paper that catches flies and wrap it around the pole.
I had the problem of having ants in my hummingbird feeder. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a couple of small plastic bowls and some super glue.
