A hummingbird feeder is a great way to attract hummingbirds to the garden, but wasps can also be attracted to sweet nectar. There are a few things you can do to keep your feeder free of wasps.
A hummingbird and a wasp at a hummingbird feeder.
Wasps and bees are attracted to the color yellow, while hummingbirds are attracted to the color red. Red feeders often come with yellow plastic flower petals around the feeder. The yellow is only there to make the hummingbird feeder more attractive to buyers, not the hummingbirds. Try painting the petals red, but be careful not to get the paint too close to or into the water cooler, where the Hummer’s beak can scrape off the flakes of paint into the nectar. Make sure the paint is dry before replacing the hummingbird feeder.
A yellow jacket, a kind of wasp.
Some feeders are designed so that hummingbirds must dive deep for nectar, too deep for an insect’s proboscis to reach. This type naturally discourages wasps and bees that can smell the nectar but will soon give up the cause of trying to catch it.
In other cases, people have found that the easiest way to deal with wasps and bees at a hummingbird feeder is to give them their own “feeder” with supersaturated sugar water. This can be something as simple as a shallow dish. Hummingbird nectar is mixed in a 4:1 solution, so make sure the wasp nectar is much sweeter. Move the wasp dish away from the feeder one foot a day until it is a good distance away. Insects will gravitate to the sugar-rich dish, leaving the hummingbird feeder for the hummingbirds.
Another solution that works for some is to simply relocate the hummingbird feeder once the wasps discover it. Hummers will find the feeder even if it is several feet away, but it will take a while for wasps and bees to catch it. When this happens, you can move the feeder again. This solution doesn’t work for window feeders, but it might work for backyard feeders.
Finally, some people recommend using a little castor oil on the petals or in the tube around the drinking fountain. Insects are reluctant to stay on some surfaces and will be deterred from the feeder. However, do not put oil in or near the water dispenser. The posture of a wasp or bee is such that the oil in the hole is unnecessary, and you want to avoid contaminating the nectar or creating a situation where hummingbirds get oil or their beaks dirty. Keep in mind that oil runs off with heat, so apply it very carefully; a small thin smear with your fingertip will suffice.
