Nature/Reciprocal

Yikes! Honey Bees Swarming my Hummingbird Feeder again

Every year about this time the bees take over my feeder so here’s what I do

I love honey bees so instead of doing what some experts recommend to get them off my feeders, I make special nectar for them and feed them away from the Hummingbird feeder.

In case this doesn’t appeal to you then do what the experts advise and remove your bird feeder for 3–4 days. Yes, the little Hummers won’t like it and they may move on permanently, but the bees will definitely move on, too, and supposedly they won’t return.

I don’t like this solution as I don’t want to chance to lose the Hummers.

So instead, I dissolve two cups of sugar in one cup of water and bring it to a boil. It’s called Honey Bee elixir and you can find this recipe on Pinterest. Next comes the tricky part…

After I cool the elixir in the fridge, I pour about a 3rd of it into a clean plant saucer, then I take it outside and add a few small rocks to it, (for the bees to rest on) before I slowly approach the bees on my feeder. Yes, I walk right up to them, like Izzy the Bee charmer in the movie ‘Fried Green Tomatoes.’ They have NEVER stung me and most of them will fly to the saucer that I slowly and carefully walk to the opposite side of the tree away from the Hummingbird feeder. Some of them may land on my hand but that’s okay. As I said, I’ve never been stung. They are just curious, but once I carefully place the saucer on the ground they follow their friends and hop over to the saucer.

I’m a good beekeeper, so I go out and check on them every few hours, but like I’ve read, I only refill the saucer no more than once a day. By evening, when it’s the hottest outside, a lot of them have flown away. I imagine they’re now drunk and I pray they make it back to their hive okay. “Be on the lookout for that Bumble Bee cop because he’ll make you take a breathalyzer and then he’ll write you up!” I warn.

So what do you do to help mother nature’s beautiful little creatures? Do you feed the birds, or do you have a bird bath? Have you ever thought about feeding the honey bees that swarm your feeder?

I want to thank Sahil Patel and Dr. Preeti Singh for this new part of Reciprocal designed for nature stories. I think this is a great creative addition to Sahil’s wonderful pub and I hope many of you will add your own nature story to it soon.

I want to tag pockett dessert’s piece on water, Snapshots: An Obsession With Water Reflections In Life | by pockett dessert | SNAPSHOTS | Medium. If you don’t follow pockett you’re really missing out on some beautiful photography, poetry, and nature’s finest artistry.

If you don’t follow Freda Savahl you are really missing out. She is an immigrant who came here from S. Africa and is a retired Nurse practitioner. She loves nature and her latest is this fantastic piece I’m sure you will enjoy. Weird & Incredible things! — Freda Savahl — Medium

Thanks for reading and thoughtful writing everyone.