A good ratio is 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir. Bring to room temp. Refrigerate leftover till next use, but bring to room temperature before filling. Always wash out feeders thoroughly with just hot water before replenishing. Enjoy these beautiful little creatures.
The first recipe is not correct. It is 1/4 Cup sugar to 1 Cup tap water. Boil water, then add sugar and stir till dissolved. Cool before using. You can go to the Domino sugar site and search for their hummingbird recipe. So, I only make 3 cups at a time which is 3 cups water with 3/4 Cups sugar. Hope this helps and enjoy watching these little loves!
We use 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar,boil water to dissolve sugar and cool. This is the same as the above recipe we just make more to fill more feeders..
each bird gets less nutrition, they use a lot of energy in a day. We havefed 3 to 1 ratio of water to sugar for yeas and the hummers are healthy and delighted, DO NOT add food coloring,it can kill them ( our hummers would not even eat the red food you buy)
Red food coloring can be harmful, even deadly and experts warn against using it to attract hummibirds. NEVER use red food coloring in homemade nectar!!
Audubon society recommends 4:1 ratio......4 cups water 1 cup sugar, bring to gentle boil with occasional stirring......cool before putting in feeder....refrigerate unused portion
I put 1 cup of sugar in a 4 cup measuring cup. Put in some hot tap water and stir until dissolved. Add more water to the 4 cups and stir more. Birds don't care if they get more sugar!
If you live in a hot area, dump the sugar water mix everyday, clean out the feeder, and refill the next day. Bacteria can grow and kill the birds if you just leave it. Don't use red food dye, it's bad for them and the red on the feeders themselves is enough to attract them.
Four parts water to one part sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil so the sugar dissolves. Cool before adding to the feeder. Do NOT add food coloring, as it's not good for the birds.
Our preferred method is 1 cup sugar to 3.5 cups water. However, start with the sugar and 1.5 cups of water, bring to a boil stirring occasionally to dissolve all sugar crystals, allow too cool a bit and then add the other two cups of water - cold water - to fast cool it down. Don't add red food coloring as some dyes have ingredients very harmful to the little hummingbird livers. The color of the feeder is enough attraction; especially if you have real live blooms near. Any unused syrup is stored in the refrigerator, tightly closed up.
I use water from my Keurig coffee maker to melt the sugar. Just stir until all crystals are dissolved. My birds prefer 2/3 cup sugar to 2 cups water. My feeder holds 16 ounces so this amount fills it. We are careful to cool solution on the counter before pouring into the feeder.
To everyone...do you HAVE to boil the water? I use 1/4 sugar to one cup water...just water from the tap...I stir every so often,the sugar dissolves...I used to put it in the microwave to heat the water,but one day in a hurry,just used cold tap water,and it dissolved after a few stirrings...so......?
Yes you do! 1 cup fresh water, 1 cup regular sugar melt it in a pot on the stove..do not boil it..add 1 tray of ice cubes...The Hummers will love you 😊
4 cups water, 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir for 2 minutes to completely dissolve sugar but mostly to prevent bacteria from forming (which can kill them). Don't boil longer or it will turn to syrup! Let cool, fill feeder. NO RED DYE. Dye is harmful. They come to feeder without it. I have used this formula for years in California and get lots of Hummers fighting over the feeder.
Public water supplies have chemicals; some places more than others. Those things are bad for the birds. Boiling the water eliminates the problem. You do not have to have hot water to dissolve sugar. 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water, NO COLORANT! Ambient temperature best unless it is pretty cold, then slightly warm.
I heat four cups of water in the microwave for four minutes. After it is heated, I remove water from microwave and immediately add one cup of white granulated sugar. Stir the sugar water mixture until all the sugar is dissolved and the water is crystal clear again.
Let cool, and than fill and hang your feeders. Never add red food coloring!.
Enjoy the little hummers that will visit. Mine visit daily and return every year. It may take a while for the hummers to find your feeders, so be patient.
Here in the south, the hummers arrive mid April and leave in mid September. Be sure to remove all feeder at the end of summer so the birds can migrate to Argentina on time. Hummers that do not leave or leave late could end up dead, as they can not handle cold winters.
Be sure to clean feeders and change sugar water weekly.
Left over sugar mixture can be stored in fridge.
I always put 4 c of water in microwave to boil....1 c sugar dissolves very quickly when added to boiling water. Allow to cool, I Colored water is NOT needed. Hummers are attracted to the red in the feeder. If you don't have enough hummers to finish this much, you can always just make 2 c water, 1/2 c sugar mixture.
I live in Arizona, too, and I do it the same way. I agree with Donna - the clear sugar water is fine, do not color the water - the food coloring is not good for the hummers.
Well I use 3 cups of water to / cup of sugar. I always boil my water, stir in the sugar, till it's clear, then let it cool to room temp. I have 2 feeders that hold four cups each. And my birds drink almost exactly 4 cups per day. I ALWAYS wash the feeder with soap and hot water between each feeding. I use wide mouth feeder so I can wash them good. I also scrub the flowers with a tiny brush each time as well.
I mix mine the same way if I run out of what I got at the store. Thanks for sharing that on the food coloring. I always put it in mine. I figure if people can eat it, then the birds could to. I will leave it out from now on.
I use a 3/1 mixture also. (1cup water and 1/3 c sugar. No red coloring) My feeders are copper wire creations using blood collection tubes as the feeders. The top has a tiny hole drilled in it and the hummers tongue can reach the bottom. Mine love the one I have that has a perch for them to sit on. Got them from a couple in Texas. I make a batch and fill up bunches of the tubes all at once and keep the extra in the fridge. I live in NW Louisiana so it's hot. They seem to enjoy the cold treat.
I, also live in Az...and make up 2 cups each time, but only pour in 1 cup at a time. Keeping the extra cup in the fridge, birdies never run out that way.
Good idea to make extra! I don't use hot water to make mine, but use hot to clean. In the summer I have two feeders going at once and stagger so that when I change they don't go hungry, or if one goes empty the other one still has some left in it!
I use 1 part water to 4 parts sugar and microwave until the sugar is completely dissolved,. Please do not add food color! As long as the feeders have some red(even if its just a red bit of yarn) the Hummers will find it. I have to make a half gallon every other day, more when the babies fledge. About the cover of trees, the birds like to have some place to escape to during a feeding frenzy. Hope this helps.
I boil water in teapot, mix 4 parts water to 1 part sugar, mix until sugar dissolves and let cool. DO NOT ADD COLORING! It's harmful to the birds. Change food every 4 days to avoid mold.
If you boil the water, mold should be rare except outside the feeder.
You can place an 'bowl' end slice of watermelon under the feeder to attract the hummingbirds until they find the feeder. You might need to place some ant bait under the feeder. The dripping sugar water attracts ants.
Mold happens when you don't clean the feeder or change it often enough. I like the wide mouth feeders, easier to clean.. I use a bottle brush , timing depends on how often you have to change the feeders. A drop of dish detergent, rinse well and off you go.
We use 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups hot water from the tap. Our feeders drain fast, usually in a day or so. In the summer we have up to 10 feeders going so it's Costco for LARGE bags of sugar. We even put up 3-4 feeders this winter.
We think of the feeders as jewels in our yard . So, we make the juice in as many colors as we can mix. We used to buy food coloring in those little bottles, but ran out so fast we finally started buying pint containers from Food for less. It's fun to see what colors we can come up with by using only Red, Yellow, Blue and Green.
Like everyone is saying 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water. The Audubon says the red food color won't hurt the birds you can use it if you like. I don't use it myself. Make sure you give the feeder a good cleaning once a week.
In warm weather you have to clean your feeders more often. Otherwise, you may be killing hummingbirds with bacteria. The cleaning schedule I read (from hummingbird rescue group) was:
Daily high temperatures Change nectar after
61-70 4-5 days
71-80 3 days
81-85 2 days
86+ daily
CanT understand why the Audubon Society would OK using red dye in feeder when it's a known fact that the dye is bad for thier kidneys.. the feeder is red which is enough red to attract the birds..
There have never been any studies done on the birds and red dye. So there is no known proof on if it harmful or not. I don't use it because there is no need to use it.
Been doing this for years but I'd read long ago to mix the water and sugar in a pot and boil for 3 minutes to rid the mix of any bacteria from the water, especially if you use well water from your faucets. And always let it cool before filling your feeders. I make a big batch and keep it in the fridge.
If you have a problem with ants, get some of the ant traps for the top of your feeder. They are a cup that you fill with plain water. The ants drown trying to get to the nectar.
Boil your water for about 5 minutes, add sugar. 4 parts water/ 1 part sugar, let cool. NO food coloring....not safe or needed. You could paint red dots on (glass/plastic) clear part of use red electrical tape and stripe, but not needed. For cheap ant trap, Vaseline on about 4 inches of hanger and top of feeder. They cannot get out of it to get to feeder. Use it yearly....tested/proven.
Mix a solution of 1 part white, granulated sugar and 4 parts warm water. Stir the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cane sugar is a sucrose that falls into the carbohydrate family. Carbs are easily digested and give the hummingbirds the immediate energy they need to keep those little wings flapping.
Boil the sugar water for 1 to 2 minutes. Boiling the mixture will slow down any bacterial growth that may occur. Boiling the water will also get rid of any extra chlorine that might be in your tap water (which in turn could harm the little hummers.) Let mixture cool before hanging it out for the hummingbirds. For 2 cups of water, you would need 1/2 cup sugar.
Change solution at least once a week or more if the water gets murky. Store any left over solution in frig. Bring up to room temp before refilling feeder
Unless you have a really big problem with the ants don't worry too much about them because the hummingbirds eat them too. The sugar water is not their main food supply, insects are.
Have had a problem with ants,,,,,,just put a chalk line around where they travel, they wont cross it. Never use food coloring in humming bird feeders.
There is a reason why the feeder already has red on it. I have a problem with yellowjackets at my feeders. Hummers dont like them and wont come back to the feeder.
She did mean 4 water to 1 sugar. Boiling can be a good idea, depending on your tap water quality and how long it will be in the feeder. Anyone needs to clean out the feeder before any harmful mold develops, and that's before it shows up--hot climates should change out the sugar water every day.
Boil water first, solution should be 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water. Do not add red food coloring, as it is not necessary and may be harmful. Keep the food in the fridge until needed. Here in NC, I change my food every 3 days, cleaning the feeder each time. The solution can sour, especially after hot temps and even a summer rain.
Absolutely Sobeam, I forgot about changing due to souring. Boiling to purify water Is the reason, they do not need chemically treated or hot water from faucet (which leaches lead from old pipes underground).
I'd like to say that red food coloring has long been considered harmful to hummers. Like people and chocolate, but dogs can't tolerate it. The red coloring on most feeders is more than enough to attract the birds. Even better than feeders that need to be scrubbed and refilled, you might want to consider just growing plants that attract them. They stop blooming at the proper time for hummers to continue to migrate so they don't get caught by bad weather.
I used to put out hummingbird feeders but if the solution ferments, the little guys can get tipsy . . . I grow flowers that they like and I've actually seen more hummers in my yard than when I had the feeders.
I use my grandmothers recipe of 1 to 1. My feeder holds 16 ounces. So I add a cup of sugar to a cup of boiling water. My next door neighbor also has a feeder and was won why his nectar was hardly gone after a week. I told him my recipe (wish I hadn’t) and now we both get empty feeders!
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I use my grandmothers recipe of 1 to 1. My feeder holds 16 ounces. So I add a cup of sugar to a cup of boiling water. My next door neighbor also has a feeder and was won why his nectar was hardly gone after a week. I told him my recipe (wish I hadn’t) and now we both get empty feeders!