We had so much fun watching them & how amazing they were still out & about during the storms. We made syrup the entire time (we run generators when power goes out.) September is about the time hummers start leaving us here in Louisiana & they really feed heavily at this time. Voila The perfect homemade hummingbird food recipe. Remove from heat, let the sugar dissolve, and bring the mixture to room temperature. We worried it might be dangerous for the birds, but took a vote to keep the feeders up. Hummingbird Food Recipe (Won’t Harm Birds) To make perfect hummingbird food that will attract hummingbirds but won’t harm them, simply combine 1 cup of white sugar into 3-4 cups boiling water. Well, when a family member looked out there, we had 30+ hummers feeding, so many it was hard to try to count them all. Our hummers also have hurricane parties! During Katrina (or Rita, Gustav, etc etc, pick one ?), the wind & rain was so strong that feeders hanging under our porch were almost horizontal. I have many bullies too & they will stake out a nearby branch, then chase any other hummer daring to come near “their” feeder. I find hummers pretty much recognize the feeders, so no need. What a fantastic post, Barbara, thank you!!!! Never thought to use pressure cooker for hummingbird syrup! What a time saver, keeps kitchen cooler in the summer & wonderful links to hummingbird info & supplies, WOW! Beautiful yard you have there, too. I use the same method for cleaning the bottles, and suppose if you wanted to, you could get replacements for the rings at a home-brewing supplies dealer. More than once I have gone to the refrigerator to refill the feeders and found that the syrup already had mold in it- proof that everything needs to be disinfected.īTW, I have found that European style beer bottles- the ones with the ceramic stoppers with O-rings are super to use for the syrup. Also important is to disinfect the bottles the excess syrup will be stored in. I then rinse the pieces very well, changing the water several times. I then scrub all of the pieces with a toothbrush, removing any mold that may have built up. I put all of the parts into a glass bowl of water to which has been added a tiny amount of Clorox. I remove the flowers and then dismantle the thing as much as possible. I take my feeder apart-it’s one of the feeders that have the little yellow ‘flowers’. When the hummers feed they contaminate the syrup in the feeder with bacteria and mold spores. One thing that seems to be forgotten by people making posts here(I confess that I haven’t read them ALL) is that before refilling the feeders they need to be absolutely clean.
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