Since insects won't cross vegetable oil , I wet a napkin in some and wipe the wire somewhere between the feeder and ant access. Since my feeder hangs from a hook under the eaves, I wipe a little on the base of the hook. To keep out wasps I bought a WalMart anti-wasp feeder ($4) and use a Q-tip to lightly wipe a smidgin' of vegetable oil deep inside the plastic flower openings, and some on the round body of the feeder between the flower sippers.

The wasps won't come near it, ants stay off the wire hanger, and because the feeder hangs under the eaves I only have to re-apply oil after I scrub the feeder

Thanks Rachel! I will go find those wasp-free hummingbird feeders at WalMart. The teeny sugar ants still get by the oil I put on the pole that has the feeder & the feeder inside is full of the ants when it is empty & I go to clean & re-fill it. But compared to the wasps I will put up with the sugar ants!

The sugar ants form a long single file line yards long outside & the somehow find a way indoors. Lowe's has Terro tubes that have a borax jell in them; I put a drop of it on a piece of cardboard & place it outdoors near the ant's line & it does the trick ... for awhile!

Ant guard

Here is a link that might be useful: Ant guard on eBay

A better ant guard (also called "ant moats") is here:
http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=WLA-S-10008

Rachel:

What does the wasp-proof humer feeders look like that you mentioned? I went to several of our WalMarts here in Albuquerque & none have them nor did they know what I was talking about ... only had the supposed 'ant proof' feeders. The one person in the dept. had worked there over 5 years & had never seen them there. I am SO disgusted with those wasps at all the holes in my feeders all day long! HELP!

Can you eliminate the wasp nests on your property? I spray proactively every spring, summer and fall with raid hornet killer, in all the attic eaves and around our barn. I never have a problem with wasps frequenting my hummingbird feeders, porch or entire property for that matter.

My husband is allergic to stings and I am terrified of wasps and hornets, so I practice prevention. I give bees more lattitude unless they decide to build a nest on our property, but most of our flower pollinators live elsewhere, and they never visit the hummer feeders.

Getting rid of the wasps might be the answer to your problem, but wait until after dark to spray their nests and be sure to thoroughly soak them. It is easiest (and safest) to nip nest building in the bud before they gain size and population.

spedigrees: No, I have no idea where the wasps are building their nests so can't spray them. I do notice that the hummer feeders by the fish pond have more honeybees & wasps (are yellow jackets wasps too?) than the feeder in the front yard away from the pond ... guess the wasps also use the water to build nests as I see them on the lily pads drinking from the pond.

I finally got a feeder from KMart that has yellow grills or cage-like plastic things over the opening. Guess the hummers can reach inside the cage to the opening but the wasps & bees have too short a 'mouth' to rean down to the feeder hole; hope it works!

Here is a feeder with bee guard, actually it's called a oriole feeder.
The problem with most feeders is, the sugar water comes up to high to the hole, so bees can reach down with their long tong,
bee guard helps, with the ring on top of the hole, bees can not reach down.

Konrad

{{gwi:431304}}

Here's the feeder I bought at WalMart, but I don't know if they still sell them.
{{!gwi}}From 5-21-09, fish hatchery

Spraying poison around isn't a good idea-not only do you NOT want dangerous toxins in your environment, but wasps prey on flies and other pests and are critically important in natural biocontrol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp

Well you can come collect my wasps and hornets then Rachel and take them home with you. They're not welcome here!