Never ever use Honey or artificial colors in your feed, it is not good for the birds! there is a mix you can buy but with artificial color and preservatives it is not very good for the birds. The easiest liquid to feed is a 1/4 sugar to water mix - I just mix in a measuring cup and stir with a spoon until all the sugar is dissolved, then fill the feeders.
It is important to clean your hummingbird feeders once a week - Even if they haven't finished all the liquid! If the feeder is hard to scrub just use a few small rocks or BBs with soapy water + shake to get the hard to reach areas clean. Make sure you rinse all of the soap out before refilling! I find the easiest feeders for the birds have a little rest in front of the feeder holes, so the birds can sit + eat after all their busy flying. The fancier feeders do not seem to be better just harder to clean + the simple ones have an ant moat so fill the center with plain water.
There is always a bossy male or 2 that will try to keep others away from a feeder so I set up several extra that way the alpha male can not control all the feeders at once + other Hummingbirds can enjoy nectar also. I do find that I need to stagger cleaning + filling their feeders because if I bring the feeders all in to clean + fill at once the Hummingbirds seem to panic , so I do half at a time. Keeping feeders full + cleaning once a week you will enjoy the hummingbirds all season + the next year they will return earlier.
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