Bees used to drown in mine until I tried feeders that were all red, with no yellow around the feeder hole. For me, it really worked.

My feeder doesn't leak, and I never fill it to the point the solution is all the way to the holes. The bees are attracted to any kind of moisture, every time I water my peppers they start to show up and they will even swarm the buckets of water based paint we use at work so I don't know if they are after the sugar solution itself or if they are just looking for water, maybe both. I use a 4:1 water to sugar ratio, so I don't think I"m mixing it "too sweet."

My feeder is also orange, no yellow. I know that blue and yellow are "bee colors" and bees can also see a different spectrum of colors (UV maybe, I can't remember) so maybe the feeder looks different to them than it does us humans? Yellow is a base color to orange after all. Maybe I'll pick up a red feeder and see if there's a difference. Yay an experiment!!

As an added bonus, Arizona has the distinction of being a state that is a well known home of the Africanized honey bee. I read somewhere that it was presumed all, or nearly all, the honeybees in at least the southern part of the state are killer bees. I'm not worried that the ones useing my feeder are going to attack. First off by the time I get there there have all be sent to a very sticky Davey Jones' locker, and second they are only really agressive when defending their hive. I guess based on the sheer number I find floating in there, my feeder could be mistaken for a hive. I just hope that THEY know the difference.

I spend some weeks in Tucson Mountains every winter and I see the gilas and bees around the feeders. But the feeders I see at the place I stay at and at friends' places there have ways for them to get at the liquid.

Here in NY, the only time the bees are on the feeder is if some sugar happened to get on the outside. But we have lots of water and flowers.

Animals in Arizona are desperate for water. Maybe put out a bowl of water for them? The hummers there are also very friendly to me. They come right up to my face as I'm carrying the feeder out! I love the wildlife in Arizona.

Have you seen the feeders at the Sonoran Desert Museum (Tucson) hummingbird building? It's worth a trip.

Thanks for the African bee heads up. I had heard of them coming but haven't yet seen any.

I always assumed Colorado's Front Range, where we received a scant 15" of rain a year amd any time the relative humidity got above single digits was what I called a "muggy day," was an arid climate. It seems every bit as wet as when I lived in the middle of the rainforest on Oahu compared to south-central Arizona. No, I'm not complaining, I hate humidity with a burning passion and rain and clouds are my arch nemesis.

But, you're righr. The critters here are water desperate, though, maybe not as much here on the western edge of suburban Phoenix. Plus there is a lot of agriculture here in Buckeye so irrigation canals are still more common than stop lights.

I do have a bird bath that I keep filled, so there is water present for them. I assume the insects use it every bit as much as much as the birds, but they don't get trapped in it, so I don't find their corpses floating in the tray like I do the hummer feeder.

No, I haven't been to the Sonoran desert museum yet, Tucson is a solid 2-2 1/2 hour drive yet from where I'm at, so I haven't made it that way really (I did visit Tombstone when my wife was here for interviews back in October and drove through). Right now though, the hummer species list is pretty limited. I get Anna's here at the house and have seen Costa's around, but most others, from my understanding, are as transient as I am and wont be around until spring.

As far as I know, the European honeybee and its Africanized counterpart are wholly indistinguishable outside of a laboratory setting. That is why it is "presumed" that all Apis mellifera in this corner of the world are of the subspecies/hybrid "scutellera" (Africanzied/killer bee).

That being said, I do NOT wamt to spread fear, but awareness is a great tool. Just like all animals, and I have worked in close proximity to everything from bison to rattlesnakes, they operate on DEFENSE rather than offense. A healthy respect goes a long way and like my boss at USFWS used to say "it's a herd, not a gang."

Put a bee watering spot lower to the ground, with just water. Any small fountain with flat rocks for them to land on and a bit of water movement to catch their eye will do.

They will tell the hive about it and they will be less of a hassle at your feeders.

To be honest, I don't really want to specifically and purposely attract or subsidize the bees at all. Just like I don't put out seeds because it brings in swarms of house sparrows and collard pigeons, I don't want to put out a bee waterer to attract hoards of honey bees either, especially if they are potentially Africanized. I'm not fearful of attack, as far as I can tell I'm not near their hive, I just don't like supporting invasive species.

In any event, they seem to have realized that they are not hummingbirds, or either they simply all drowned. I haven't found any dead ones in a few days. I guess the feeder bee proofed itself... for the time being haha.

Hummzinger feeders are easier to clean, safer for the hummers. Those are the only feeders I use. However, the same company who make Hummzinger feeders make a small one called the "Hummblossom" feeder, and the yellowjackets couldn't get into those feeders like the other ones, and... there is a Hummblossom Accessory Kit that has an ant moat and weather guard. I also have small, red weather guards on the other Hummzinger feeders when the wasps aren't around. I've never had an issue with actual bees bothering the feeders.. just wasps. But the little Hummblossoms are good for keeping the pests out when it gets to that time of year.

The top pic is one of the Hummzinger feeders with the small, red weather dome (notice the hummingbird and top of the feeder are dry! Works great.) The BOTTOM pic is of the Hummblossom and the Hummblossom Accessory Kit (bought mine at Amazon, but WBU has the regular Hummblossom feeders). The type of Hummblossom I like to use is the "High Perch" version so the little ones can save their precious energy and not have to hover to drink.

juliet799 quit spamming these threads. You've been reported. all of your posts link to your business. that's not allowed here