AMEN to that, Jane! I've tossed so much of that crap away. I know it seems rude, but most people know I love hummers and I get feeders and "food" for gifts and I always tell my friends NOT to buy this stuff again...I hate to make anyone feel bad, but I have to try to protect the Hb's any way I can.

glo

The fact that it is red probably helps sales. Before I knew better I bought some red nectar and I also use to use red food coloring.

Richard

I bought the stuff the first year and soon learned that it was a no no. Threw it away. I am making a new batch of sugar water right now.

there is big money to be lost if word gets out that sugar and water is the best.

Yesterday I was watching Home and Garden television, a program about a butterfly-bird friendly garden makeover... I really don't remember the name... They put a tri-pole to hang a hummer feeder(beautiful glass feeder-and a hell to clean and maintain) and they put red nectar!!! even recommended it!! I was in shock... They should know better...
Sad there are so many people educated about wild life and they put this ignorant person ...
Diana

I have a question and this sounds like a great place to get an accurate answer. (I have learned so much on the bluebird forum...more than any books I have read!)
It seems every article I read gives different advice about feeding the hummers and I am very confused. Can you give me the truth?
I have read that sugar and water does not give enough vitamins and it is slowly starving the hummers and very important to buy the commercial product which has more nutrients.
I have read that the red won't harm them but does not really make the feeder more attractive. And I have read that the red is very harmful.
I appreciate a recommendation from the real "experts."
Thanks,
Gloria-KC

It's surprising how many people are not educated in this area. From what I have read, red food coloring may have an adverse reaction to their livers and is not healthy AT ALL! Try this, pour a little red food coloring on your skin and see what happens. It stains. They even removed red food coloring from M&M candies years ago and they've banned red food coloring from many products. I feel it's just a way for these big companies to make money!

welcome to the forum, um, let's see, how do you spell it...G-L-O-R-I-A gloria! sorry, I bet no one has ever sung that to you, right? ;-) won't do it again.
ok, good question. I searched around for old threads with posts from our resident experts, and found a good answer right here in our FAQ. scope it out and let us know if you have more specific questions that the experts can handle. visit and post often.

*ALSO, EVERYBODY, futher down on the same FAQ page, it says to use warm water out of the tap. after our recent 'lead in the hot pipes' discussion, should we/can we change it?
thanks.

Why You Really Shouldn't Use Red Coloring or Commercial "Nectar Mixes":

It has not been proven-beyond-any-doubt that the red dye is harmful to hummingbirds but since it is unnecessary to use dye if your hummingbird feeder already has some red on it, why take the chance that red dye might be bad for the birds in the long run? Natural flower nectar isn't colored, so why put something in your sugar solution that the real thing doesn't have?

As for those nectar mixes, not only are they quite a bit more expensive than ordinary white table sugar, wild hummingbirds do not need the "added vitamins and minerals". Flower nectar is, for the most part, pretty much just sugar (sucrose) water. Hummingbirds in the wild get the vital nutrients they need mainly through the insects they eat--which some scientists say could be as much as half their diet. (A hummingbird that appears to be nectaring at any particular flower may instead really be hunting the insects that are attracted to the flower.) Many hummingbird researches feel that nectar is in actuality just the fuel these birds use to power their search for bugs.

Why You Should NEVER Use Honey:

A honey water solution served up in hummingbird feeders can quickly become toxic and deadly. Honey rapidly ferments and also cultures a deadly bacterium. Contrary to popular belief, honey is not "more natural" than the cane sugar that is sold as white sugar. Honey has been chemically altered by honey bees: it is flower nectar and whatever ever else the honey bee ingested, digested, and spit back out again. Honey is nothing like the sucrose found in flower nectar and white sugar.

Again, plain white table sugar dissolved in water in a four-to-one solution (see below) is about as close to real flower nectar as you can get.

The Proper Sugar Solution Recipe for Feeding Hummingbirds:

Four parts water to one part white sugar. (For instance, one quarter cup of sugar stirred into one cup of water.)

here's the quote from our FAQ about warm tap water. what do you think?

Room Temperature Method: Use very warm water (not hot) right out of the tap. Some brisk stirring is all that is required to dissolve the sugar. Let it cool a bit before setting out a feeder if the sugar water is hot to the touch.

here's a link to the whole article.

Here is a link that might be useful: entire feeder article from hbgf FAQ

Oh great, now I'm going to be looking for nectar in stores and if it has red dye in it I'll be taking it off the shelf and up to the store manager to insist that they stop selling it. *ack*

The only reason I frustrate myself so much is because ONCE in a while someone listens.

Lori

Mabye we should all do that SnickerKitten.