I usually buy the nectar in the store in packet form or already mixed up but ive heard that the red dye in the food might cause weak egg shells or possible kidney damage to the hummmers. Not sure if thats true but i think im going to start making my own by using a ratio of a 1/4 cup of sugar to 1 cup of (boiled) water. They say the red on the feeder is all you really need to attract the birds. what do you guys think about this? also it says to change your food every 3 days or so which can get more expensive if your buying the store stuff. What practices do you guys have with your feeders?
I do the homemade stuff with red color. They seem to like it much better than the store bought! I've never heard that about red food coloring Maybe I better lay off if it's harmful! Deanna :-D
I use 1 cup of sugar and four cups of water a two drops of red coloring. I've always used the red coloring and never saw a problem with the birds around us. We had dozens of hummingbirds in Arizona. I have two feeders out now and see a hummingbird but only one so far. dooley
I used to use the red stuff from the store, it seemed like a good idea. But I also read about the dye and switched to homemade, with the ratio you mentioned. That seems to work just fine, and the red color on the feeder attracts them. During migration times, you can bump that sugar content up a bit to give them more energy. Just store it in the fridge and every few days clean the feeders out very well. When the temps around here get in the high 70's or 80's, I change the food daily. I also keep the feeder where it does not get direct sunlight, I hope that will help it.
I make my own too. I make small batches each time so I'm filling the feeders more frequently, but at least I know it's fresh. I do not use dye and my feeders are not red. They find the feeders just fine. I make sure to have lots of blooms they like and I have a lot of red blooms.
cooked up my first batch of humming bird food last night. the wife was like, "what you doing with all my sugar..." anyway i filter my water so i figured the birds deserved chlorine free water too so i gave them it too and then i boiled 4 cups of it and 1 cup of sugar over the stove. I let it cool over night and put it out for them this morning. I also cleaned their feeders last night. hope ya like my cooking lil guys...
I have read that many times, red food color is no good for the birds. isnt that a lot of sugar in the recipe? I lost the one I used.. b
Definately no red dye. 3 of water and 1 of sugar has always been the accepted amounts except when nesting when 4 to 1 can be used. My feeders have the red base and the little yellow flowers, they don't see the mix, so that is another reason why it is not needed, unless you are trying to sell it. Its like the av filters that came out for cameras, Oh they said it protects your lens if you drop it, well if it breaks it can scratch your lens and why pay $100's for a lens and then put a $5 piece of glass in front of it.
I tried the hummingbird nectar with the red dye when I first started feeding the hummingbirds. It's a waste of red dye...save it for your red velvet cake I mix 4 parts hot water and 1 part sugar. I don't boil it...the hot water melts the sugar. I mix up enough for a week or two and keep in the refrigerator. I clean my feeders 2 times a week more or less depending on how hot it is. If you have problems attracting the hummers plant some flowers that hummingbirds like to attract them. Once the discover your feeder they will keep coming back. Hope this helps.
I use the store bought stuff. But may switch to homemade next year. I only fill my feeders about 1/4... that way you're not wasting alot of food when you have to clean it often... plus the food is fresher.
My ratio is 4 to 1 with 1 cup being the sugar and the water 4. You can tie a red ribbon if you are worried about attracting them or make sure you buy a red feeder....and I mentioned in another area to clean them often or if you get bees in them because the bees give off a toxin in the water if they drown in the water mix. I always refrigerate my mixture after it cools a bit and if you feel like you are making it too much, you can freeze some and just take it out of the freezer the night before you clean the feeders. Sanitize them with a solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water and make sure you RINSE thoroughly. For the health of those little beauties this should be done often.
Considering the reaction my youngest daughter had to red dye#40, which is in pretty much every food item at the grocery store, I stopped using it in the hummingbird feeder too. If you can find beet powder at a store, that would be better to use
