In this episode Brad will show you how he repels insects from the hummingbird feeders. There is nothing more annoying than to see your feeders inundated with everything trying to get at the sugar water except for the hummingbirds for which you placed it.
While hummingbirds are bigger than bees, hornets and wasps, one sting and the hummer is certainly issued a death certificate, so they hummingbirds will give the stinging insect a wide birth.
At Cougar Ridge Ranch we have a LOT of hummingbirds from May to September.
When I say a LOT, I mean in the neighborhood of 200-500. Its really hard to tell as they are always coming and going. We've watched males perching in the same place in a tree and they visit the feeder to feed about every 4-12 minutes depending on their energy expenditures. When not disturbed, every station of every feeder is always busy.
The area that the ranch is located is the summer nesting grounds for 4 types of hummingbirds.
Rufus, Broad-tail, Black Chinned and Calliope
At the last of the video notice the two 1.5 gallon jugs.
These and two more are used every other day to fill the feeders.
In 2019 we used 20 - 25lb bags of sugar just feeding the hummingbirds. If you do the math, that is 500 pounds of sugar.
We feed 4-5 gallons of nectar every two days from Mid July thru August.
Brad's favorite hummingbird feeders are the largest made by DrJBs.com. They have very wide mouths for each filling, come apart very nicely for cleaning and hold a lot of nectar.
We have eight(8) of them and each hold 1/2 gallon of nectar.
We also have 14 other feeders that are smaller, from just under 1/2 gallon down to 1 quart each.
The males show up late April, the females show up mid May and we see babies about the first week in June.
From June through August the numbers grow daily. In the house behind the feeders it sounds like a beehive all day from sun up to sun down.
We have feeders with 4, 6, 8, and 10 feeding stations and in the evening just before sunset, and in the morning just before sun up, every station on every feeder is full and with another bird perched or flying waiting, many times Un-Patiently for its drink.
To repel insects from the hummingbird feeders simply wipe Tee Tree Oil on each feeding station. The bees, hornets and wasps don't like it at all and will crawl all around it but will not try to drink from a station with it.
Ants are not repelled so easily so we spray the top of each feeder with Permectrin II.
As the ants crawl down onto the feeder they come in contact with the permectrin and will die within seconds.
If you have a serious ant problem see our other video "No More Hornets, Wasps or Ants" and Brad will teach you how to get rid of their entire colony in 10-14 days.
Permectrin is permethrin a natural insecticide that comes from the Painted Daisy flower.
It comes in a water soluble oil concentrate and in aerosol spray commonly called Dairy Aerosol.
It is deadly to any insect that touches it, it can kill for up to 30 days.
It is safe to use around all food and is not toxic to mammals or birds, it is toxic however to fish.
It is approved for use in dairy milking parlors and bakery's with open food in California.
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