Hummingbird's Nectar Recipe

Here's the recipe for hummingbird syrup.

• Boil four cups of water.
• Remove water from the heat.
• Stir in one cup of white sugar.
• Cool the syrup before filling feeder.
• NOTE: Do not use honey, which can cause a fatal fungal infection on the birds' tongues.
• NOTE: Do not add food coloring to the solution. It may be harmful, and it's not necessary. Red on the feeder will attract the hummingbirds.
• You can store the extra syrup in the refrigerator for a week.

Hang the feeder where you can see it from a window.

Clean the feeder at least once a week. In warm weather, you may need to change the syrup and wash out the feeder every day. Don't let the syrup turn cloudy in the feeder — that's mold. It will make hummingbirds avoid your feeder, and it may make them sick.

If ants discover the feeder, discourage them by applying petroleum jelly to the wire that suspends the feeder.

If bees begin to dominate, purchase a hummingbird feeder that comes with bee guards.