Hummingbird Feeder - Hinterland Who's Who

Choose a feeder with a red dispenser. If it doesn’t have a perch, glue a twig in such a way that birds can stand while feeding.
Boil one part white sugar to four parts water for five minutes. Hold the red vegetable dye — all it does is introduce chemicals into a bird’s diet. Cool and refrigerate the mixture. It will turn to alcohol if exposed to the sun.
Fill one-third of the container and change the mixture twice a week.
When changing the mixture, clean the feeder with soap and water to remove bacteria.
Hang a second feeder out of sight if a dominant bird claims this one as its own. Leave the feeder out until the end of September. You may love the idea of attracting birds and butterflies but hate the thought of luring bees. This reaction is understandable if you don’t know all the facts. There are many different species of bees, most of them solitary, friendly sorts that nest in holes in the ground or burrow in dead trees. Because they don’t have hives to protect, they’re not aggressive and they rarely sting. They also pollinate hordes of plant species, including the ones in your vegetable garden.