Hummingbirds will flock to your feeders if you make this one simple change to your nectar recipe — here's why

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Hummingbirds are amazing pollinators, and there are many reasons why you'd want to attract this beautiful bird to your yard.

One of the easiest ways is to place a hummingbird feeder outdoors, but if bees discover your sugary nectar, they could flock to your feeders and scare the hummingbirds away.

While the occasional bee won’t be an issue, if a swarm arrives, the hummingbirds will be deterred from feeding and will seek their food source elsewhere.

However, there is a way to discourage bees from feeding on your hummingbird nectar by simply making one change to your hummingbird nectar recipe.

How to change your hummingbird nectar recipe to deter bees

Hummingbird and bees visiting a feeder — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

While the standard recipe includes sugar and water, the key is changing the ratio of ingredients. Dan DeBaun, bird blogger at Dan’s Bird Bites, told Tom’s Guide that the ideal hummingbird nectar contains one part table sugar with four parts water.

And to make the nectar, you don’t need to use boiling water, as long as it’s hot enough to dissolve the sugar and left to cool to room temperature before adding to your feeder.

But to keep the bees at bay, there’s a simple change you can make to your nectar recipe by changing the sugar-to-water ratio.

All it takes is changing the ratio to one part sugar to five parts water. This easy adjustment will dilute the sugar and make it less attractive to bees, while still encouraging hummingbirds to feed.

Other tactics to deter bees from your hummingbird feeder

Hummingbirds and feeder — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

However, if this isn’t enough to deter the bees from your hummingbird feeder, there are other tactics you can employ. Birds & Blooms suggests planting pollinator-friendly plants near your feeder to encourage the bees to dive into the plants rather than the feeder.

Meanwhile, Home Sweet Bees recommends using a red hummingbird feeder without yellow in the design, as yellow is a big draw to bees, but they are less attracted to the color red than hummingbirds.

Home Sweet Bees also suggests placing a decoy feeder in another location and filling it with a stronger sugar solution than you would use for your hummingbird nectar. The bees will be enticed by the sweeter nectar and leave your hummingbirds to feed alone.

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Camilla is the Homes Staff Writer and covers everything to do with homes and gardens. She has a wealth of editorial experience, mounting over 30 years, and covers news and features, tests products for reviews and compiles buying guides.

Her work has appeared in business and consumer titles, including Ideal Home, Real Homes, House Beautiful, Homebuilding & Renovation, and Kitchen & Bathroom Business. She’s even appeared on the cover of Your Home, writing about her own house renovation.

Although she’s obsessed with decorating her home, she also enjoys baking and trying out the latest kitchen appliances. But when she’s not inside, you’ll find her pottering about in her yard, tending to her vegetable patch or taking in her prized hydrangeas.

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