Do honey bees hurt hummingbirds? (2023)

How do I keep honey bees away from my hummingbird feeders?

It's no secret that honey bees like the sugar/water mixture in hummingbird feeders. If there's no bee guard on the feeder or if the feeder isn't bee-proofed, bees will sip the mixture. They also will lick the spills. A sudden gust that sways or upends the feeder is "bee happy time."

Even frogs, fish, snakes and lizards can snag a low-flying hummingbird. Other dangers include larger, aggressive birds who will kill and eat smaller birds, squirrels who raid the bird feeders or insects who invade hummingbird feeders. Squirrels, chipmunks, blue jays and crows will eat hummingbird eggs and babies.

Honey bees, yellow jackets, wasps and other not so desirable winged ones invade your hummingbird feeders :( From a few stragglers to overwhelming numbers, they vie for sugar water while keeping hummingbirds away from their rightful food, it's just ghastly and so sad to watch hummers without access to feeders.

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Bees also have a distaste for lavender oil, citronella oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, lemon, and lime. These are all topical defenses you can add to your skin to keep bees away. Unlike other flying insects, bees are not attracted to the scent of humans; they are just curious by nature.

Keeping wasps, hornets, yellow jackets and other flying insects away from hummingbird feeders is very important. These insects are very aggressive and have been reported to go as far as to aggressively chase and sting hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds are aggressive feeders and likely won't be deterred by a few bees or ants here and there, but when too many bugs feed on the sugar water, it becomes contaminated and less attractive to hummingbirds.

A short-term solution is use a light film of either vegetable oil or olive oil on the surface of the hummingbird feeder. Applying a film of oil every day all around each of the ports where the bees are accessing the sugar water is a pretty good deterrent to bees.

Will Dawn dish soap hurt hummingbirds?

If your hummingbirds empty the feeder with greater frequency, clean it every time it's empty. Cleaning with hot tap water works fine, or use a weak vinegar solution. Avoid using dish soaps, as this can leave harmful residue in the feeder.

Bats, squirrels, raccoons and bears are usually the culprits that drink hummingbird nectar, although usually bears will be more conspicuous, as they are noisy and will typically destroy the feeder.

One of the biggest threats to their survival comes from what most would think an unlikely problem the feeders people put out for them. It's estimated that several thousand hummingbirds die every year from health problems caused by dirty feeders, spoiled sugar water and toxic commercial nectar.

The hummingbirds may feed next to a few bees, but large numbers of bees can be detrimental to the hummingbirds—and wasps can become aggressive, chasing off the tiny birds who leave in search of another food source.

Cats, both domestic and feral, are probably the most common predators of non-nested hummingbirds. Reports to the Society come in regularly, for example, of people whose cats carry a hummingbird in their mouth--sometimes dead, sometimes not.

While some hummers feed in harmony with these insects, many end up fighting hornets, honeybees, and yellow jackets. The most common are bees, wasps, and ants. Other insects such as moths and earwigs may also be attracted to nectar. A feeder with too many bugs becomes contaminated and can keep hummers away.

Peppermint oil repellent.

Some bird lovers claim that peppermint extract doesn't bother hummers but discourages bees and wasps. Dab the minty stuff on the feeding ports and where the bottle attaches to the feeder. Repeat the process after a rainfall. You can also try putting a peppermint plant near the feeder.

Why Are Honey Bees Swarming My Hummingbird Feeder? Honey bees swarm your hummingbird feeder when they don't have other food sources nearby. Bees prefer nectar over the sugar water inside the hummingbird feeder. But when nectar comes in short supply, bees get desperate and get sweet liquid from any source they can.

Peppermint Essential Oil: Bees (and basically every other insect) hate the smell of peppermint. This natural repellent is highly effective, so add it to some distilled water and spray it around your home or yard.

Do dryer sheets repel bees?

Dryer sheets can repel bees because they dislike a strong scent. Most dryer sheets are usually very scented, and this is why bees won't fly anywhere near them. Rub a dryer sheet on your clothes, hang them on a clothesline, or place them on the back of the outdoor seating to keep bees away.

In order to force the bees to relocate without killing them, sprinkle cinnamon around their hive every day for about a week. The bees will start looking for a place to relocate as soon as they smell the cinnamon.

Keep Bees and Wasps Away with Red Saucer Feeders

One way to keep bees and wasps away is with saucer hummingbird feeders. With their long tongues, hummingbirds can reach the nectar in saucer feeders—but insects can't. Plus, while hummingbirds prefer the color red, bees are more attracted to yellow.

Hummingbirds are little creatures, so they are wary of any loud noises. Loud music, children, or barking dogs can all scare them away. If you want to provide a safe haven for them, keep noise to a low and see if that does the trick.

Other Cleaning Methods

Vinegar – Another easy, as well as natural cleaning method for your hummingbird feeder. Again, you can use many of the same steps as above, substituting the soap and water solution for two parts water and one part distilled white vinegar. Allow to completely dry before refilling.

The hummingbirds avoided the smells associated with ants, particularly the formic acid. Interestingly the birds didn't react at all to the honeybee smell, which the insects usually use to stop other bees from visiting flowers.

Try not to make it too much sweeter than a 4:1 ratio because it is harder for them to digest. There is such a thing as too sweet, even for a hummingbird.

You will hear chirps during the mating season to alert others where to find them for courtship. Pay attention to how soft and aggressive these chirps are. Males will send out more combative sounds when they are protecting their food and want to remove others from the area.

What could happen if you leave sugar water in your feeder too long? Sugar water can become contaminated by bacteria, mold, fungus, and even dead bugs which can harm and possibly kill a hummingbird. As the nectar spoils, and all nectar spoils, it can be harder to digest and less nutritious for the hummingbirds.

Most experts say that two to three days in hot weather is the longest you should go without changing the water. Make that a week in cold weather. And that's assuming you boil the sugar water to kill bacteria and scrub your feeders with a bottle brush (but no soap!) every time you fill them.

Why do I only have 2 hummingbirds?

Perhaps availability of natural sources of food or nest sites have changed, causing the birds to look elsewhere. Despite their tiny size, hummingbirds can be injured or killed by free-roaming domestic cats. Some studies have also found that a good wildflower crop will reduce the number of hummingbird visits to feeders.

Hummingbirds sleep at night to regulate their internal system and conserve energy for the following day's activities. Hummingbirds usually sleep from dusk till dawn, about 12 hours. But if they are very tired they can sleep for up to 18 hours!

Hummingbirds are aggressive feeders and likely won't be deterred by a few bees or ants here and there, but when too many bugs feed on the sugar water, it becomes contaminated and less attractive to hummingbirds.

Bats, squirrels, raccoons and bears are usually the culprits that drink hummingbird nectar, although usually bears will be more conspicuous, as they are noisy and will typically destroy the feeder. Raccoons will also cause damage to the feeders.

No, hummingbirds are not afraid of bees. The two nectar-loving creatures are competitors for the same food source. But they don't go as far as attacking each other. Hummingbirds avoid areas with too many bees because there's just too much competition.