return of the hummies

OhMy.....did it turn out despite it all? Or did you somehow make extra thick pancake syrup?

It was fine. Fortunately, I went for a drink and caught it before disaster.

Thank heavens. Mom and I need to cook up a new batch of hummie feed pretty soon too. They're drinking us out of house and home. In fact, my feeder was nearly bone dry yesterday when I switched it out for a fresh one.

We don't have swarms yet, but I think we might once the temps get more normal. I see 3 or 4 in the mornings and evenings. I cleaned and changed juice today, and the feeders had been invaded by ants. YUCK.

I haven't seen swarms yet either.  Brads lil hummies come for a drink about every 10 minutes.  One hovered at the window watching us for nearly 5 minutes Saturday night, and did that after every other drink at the feeder.  

I'm wondering if a squirrel is taking advantage of my feeder...it's close enough to the window sill I can change it out from inside my apartment.  It's not far of a reach for a squirrel to sit on the outside sill and reach over.....

Mom found some bug repellant at Farm&Fleet. It hangs from the hook and the feeder hooks to the bottom of it. Keeps ants out and nearly every other kind of bug there is unless it flies. The crawlies die before they can walk past this thing to get to the feeder.
http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/345397-perky-pet-ant-guard.html

Cool! I'm going to check if these are bee safe. I'm trying to keep things as bee friendly as possible. I sure hope it's a go. I am sick of seeing armies of ants all over the hooks and feeders. And, when I clean the feeders, I inevitably miss a few ants, and they crawl around in the kitchen. Yuck.

Don't know if it's safe for bees or not. It uses pyrethrin. But I had trouble keeping the ants from getting in the house because I had the same trouble you did in not getting them all off before coming inside. Mom was beside herself about them getting in.....

I just go crazy and smash them in the sink. They don't really bother me, but they should stay outside. I guess the trap would be fine since the stuff doesn't get sprayed all over the place.

I totally understand why you got it. I think I will too. I just want to check it out. I haven't seen many bees at all this year.

The swarms are starting. I saw three females chasing each other around today. Tomorrow, I need to clean and refill. I probably will get swooped a couple times.

I saw my first hummie today. I'm sure they're here because we have all sorts of flowers to attract them.

They are quite sneaky in populated places. This is the first place I've lived where I see so many. My closest neighbor is 1/4 mile away.

I watched a young lil hummie checking out the bushes at the church yesterday waiting for the pantry to open up. Spent at least 10 minutes hovering around, looking for flowers or a feeder. Poor lil thing found nothing to eat at the church. Should've went next door, that house had flowers AND feeders out.

Squirrels keep draining my hummie feeder, and my feeder hook is too short to keep them off with a baffle. How do I keep them out so my hummie can get a meal?

Hmm... Can you put out a squirrel feeder to distract the little guy? An ear of dried corn might keep him busy for a couple days.

I found an ant deterrent that doesn't have pesticide.

http://www.amazon.com/Ant-Off-Ant-Guard-nectat-feeders/dp/B005L4LE2S

Ended up moving the hook away from my window....so now I can't change it from inside my place. But the squirrel can't use the sill as a perch either.
Now to reinstall the hummie feeder and see if he leaves it alone. Otherwise I have to invest $20 for a baffle if Farm&Fleet still has one.

Several lil hummies at Brads feeder last night. So cute and so fast! One kept looking in the window at us, just staring, before flying off.

Ours are swarming. It's fun to watch them. One plays "king of the hill," and guards the feeder from some of the garden art we have (a snail made out of copper). He gives up after a while, and the rest of the crew comes swarming in for drinks.

I found an ant guard that does not have pesticides in it. It's shaped like a bell. I put Vaseline on the inside (thin layer), and then hang the feeder from a hook under it. Works wonders.

Cool....I'd like to see that ant guard. My feeder doesn't have one (mom ran out). Moving the pole worked: no more squirrel raids.

Here's the guard on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Valley-5572-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B000BQROHU/ref=pd_sxp_redirect I found mine at Tractor Supply.

I counted eight birds today. They are being a bit more polite, but I don't know why. At least everyone is getting to eat.

Thanks, that bug guard looks and probably works better than the ones my mom is wasting money on.

Would love to see your swarms! We still only have the same hummies we've been seeing all summer, no little ones yet.

I haven't seen any ants since I put them up. Today, I sat on the front porch to read my book. I heard a LOT of hummies in the front. I only saw two, but there were more.

We have baby hummers! Saw several coming to Brads feeder and then going to mom's feeder. So tiny and oh so cute!!! Brave little ones too, they stared at us through the window.

On the other side of the house from the hummingbird feeder, we have a couple of seed feeders. Today, we had a wonderful woodpecker picking out only the sunflower seeds. He was knocking the other stuff on the ground. (For Bingo to snoodle, I'm sure.)

And the squirrels, chippies, skunks, possums, and other birds IF Bingo leaves any for them.

Baby doves and wrens are eating us out of house and home! They are cute, and there are sooooo many of them. Bij of course is in kitty heaven watching all the action. Now if only the chippie would bring little ones to the feeder............

Absolute madness at the feeders today. The birds were swarming in the morning. They calmed down in the afternoon because of the heat. They were back in force as the sun was going down.

Are you seeing baby hummies too? I spotted one just this morning getting breakfast at Donna's feeder (she lives across the hall from mom and Brad). Very tiny, fast, and thirsty!