Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 17:28:39 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Bonnie Ott Subject: Re: question about hummingbird feeders MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > Another endorsed ASPECTS' HummZinger II. Personally, I like the hummzinger mini. I find it the easiet to clean (no equipment needed )and fill and the birds love all 3 of mine. > > Regarding ants, someone suggested Vaseline, and > another suggested the Ant Moat. > I like the ant moats- only problem is that the small birds like to drink from them. Depending on placement you may not have trouble with ants at all. > Someone felt plastic was better than glass. It probably makes no difference. Just stay away from beautiful looking decorative blown glass ball feeders- almost impossible to clean. > > I'm not sure what the best preventive measure was for > bees. Someone suggested olive oil will repell bees. > No magic solution. Some people swear by "skin so soft" by avon. I have also read that diluting nectar down to 5-1 can help. Feeders that drip alot can attract wasps and bees- hang it in a sheltered spot if possible. The most important aspect of hummer feeding is CLEAN and FRESH! Keep the nectar changed often and feeder clean. I change mine every other day. I use table sugar and water (1-4) and make a batch weekly and keep it in the fridge. I am planning on putting mine out tommorrow. Hanging red ibbon and/or planting red flowers near the feeder can help attract hummers. Bonnie Ott Howard County Field Trip Chair Ellicott City, MD bonnie1163@comcast.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================