How do I get rid of the bees swarming my hummingbird feeder?

I don't want to use something harmful to the birds but am wondering if anybody else has had this problem and solved it? The bees have taken over, covering every feeding hole on the feeder..The poor hummingbirds fly by, take one look, and leave. I used to have at least 10-15 that fed every day, all day. Help!How do I get rid of the bees swarming my hummingbird feeder?
Amblina honey, this is a very good question and I appreciate very much that you are very conscientious. I actually have checked your profile and found out that you are a prolific animal-lover and is deemed by me as someone who respects all life forms, and rightly so.


Anyway, go find something from the store something like an incense or an insect repellant (it is something that emits some kind of scent that is disliked by the bees. I know it is available somewhere).


All the best to you!How do I get rid of the bees swarming my hummingbird feeder?
put a bag of water using a zip lock bag. put it close to the feeder %26amp; this will fix your bee problem. thats what we do.
Can you hang a bee/wasp trap next to it?





I just typed in 'Natural be/wasp repellent' in the web search and lots of stuff came up. Try that.


Good luck!!!
They sell hummingbird feeders that keep bees from getting to it. I've never tried it myself but I have heard a lot of great things about them. I've also heard that the bees are attracted to yellow. I got a new feeder with out yellow and only red and it's rare if I see a bee now. You can paint any yellow on the feeder with red nailpolish, yes it's safe.





http://www.hummzinger.biz/hummzinger.htm





http://www.humming-birds.com/humfunct.ht鈥?/a>





Good luck!
just do clean your humming bird feeder from all sticky stuff :


because bees loves nectar sweet fluid so what I suggest is


move feeder to another location
YES I HAD THIS PROBLEM. Take down your feeder for awhile.


Go to any hardware store and get a few Yellow Jacket traps. Hang them around your yard. It takes about 2-4 wks. to get rid of them.
Moe it to a different location when the bees are resting during the day. I think early early hours like 6 am.





2nd idea put up 3 more of those hummingbird feeders. Or buy more if needed.





Bees don't like smoke, put one up near a BBQ, roast some briquettes at certain time of the birds usual feeding time. That should clear out the bees.
Try putting another feeder out. With more then one feeder the birds may have a chance to get to the food. Unfortunately you are not going to get rid of the bees.....it's natures call to the sweetness.
hire a professional bee exterminator
i remember when camping , i was very young, someone put raw bacon on pieces of wood in a bucket of water the bees went to the bacon.
I find bees as beautiful as the birds. But if you want to get rid of the bees, use an electric insect killer (the one that kills by electrocution). Enclosed it in a box made of chicken wire, put feeds in it as bait.
go get a regular bird feeder and put it near by , and you will draw in meat eating birds they will go after the bees and wasps. i keep two wild bird seed feeders one at each end of the yard and i don't get bees in the summer time
Some humming bird feeders have what is called a bee guard - this is what you need. It is mesh, or plastic that prevents the bees from reaching the sugar water but the hummingbirds can put their little beaks right on through and past this. Bees will still initialy be attracted to the smell, but will not swarm so much once they discover they can't reach the goodies.
your problem could lie in a larger nest near by. You might, if you are the pro-active type, talk to your neighbors and see if they are having similar problems. If so, see about calling the county out to locate the nest so it can be destroyed. Bees are incredibly erratic and with the massive influx of africanized honeybees (killer bees) into the US over the last decade, you do not want to take the chance of tangling with the wrong batch. Use caution. beware of insecticides with harsh chemicals. cheers,
You can buy a feeder they are unable to use. A lot depends on the type of bee. If they are honey or bumble bees, they won't harm you. If they are wasps or yellow jackets find the source, it's probably in the ground, and eradicate it. They will move on. Just remember to do it in the early morning or late evening to assure the pests are in the hole. Otherwise you will have a cloud of them circling the opening.
That's really bad! We never have had that happen. I had red wasps move into the body of my car though. They crawl in and out of a tiny hole in the door where the trim is missing. I hate to imagine what they are doing in there!


I would try the trap thing. If they ever leave the feeder I would remove it till they go somewhere else. At night when they 'roost' somebody might make a 'torch' and burn the suckers.


Please BEE careful!
You may have to call the local pest control to see what they have to say. I would try to find their nest, watch them to see where they go, usually at dusk you can follow them to where their nest is and you can bet it is close by. I had to get rid of the bees a few times, they were yellow jackets. These are the ones that you have I bet. They are the ones that bother you when you eat, get into your beer, pop, and bother you on the beach, and they like the garbage too. So you can find their nest by following them and at dusk, Once you locate them, wait till after dark, they will all be in the nest then nearly asleep or asleep.They could even be underground or in a section of your home, gutter, etc. Then empty a can of the killer stuff, it shoots 20 feet and just empty the can in there and have eye goggles on and surgical gloves! Problem solved. You can try to lesten the sweetener in the feeder but I doubt it will do any good, got to locate the nest and eliminate those things. It is easier than it sounds, you just have to be patient and once you empty the can in the nesting area, a few will try to crawl out but they will be near death to do anything, but make sure you are ready to get the heck out of there anyway. Have someone hold the flashlight for you. You will hear them in their nest, or underground- ( where a tree was cut and the trunk rotted and a hole in the ground.) then the next day, or later at night even, if it is in the ground, let the hose flow into it. Good Luck, and be careful. Worked for me.
There certainly are a lot of silly answers here. Never use insecticide on your hummingbird feeder. It is toxic to the hummers!





pourin isn't completely wrong. Beer can be used to as bait in a bee trap.





The simplest thing to do is spray the feeder lightly with a cooking oil spray like Pam. Putting out a bee trap and a second feeder is a good idea, too. Try leveling or stablizing the feeder so it doesn't drip.
Most home and garden centers and possibly pet stores who sell hummer feeders also sell ';bee guards'; for them. They are small ';cages'; for the holes that your hummer's beak can reach thru but the bees cannot. They are readily available here on the west coast.
I don't know if this will work, but try making your hummingbird mix clear instead of colorful. Also move it, now that the bees know where it is.





MAYBE this will work. I don't know. Good luck to you.
Set out a bowl of dish detergent and applesauce/apple juice The yellow attracts them, they like the sweetness, the detergent kills them. My friends mom tried this after their 1 year old was stung while sitting outside. According to them it works really well. Using a yellow bowl might help too.
Had this problem-read that bees are attracted to yellow-hummingbirds to red -bought feeder where the feeding ports were white-No Bees--since I had many hummingbirds left 1 yellow port feeder for the bees-did not fill up but enough for the bees approx 1/3full-placed this feeder off to the side away from the hummingbird feeders-all in all had 3 up this year-the bees were satisfied with the one feeder-also if you have more than 1feeder for the hummers then place apart for hummers are territorial and will chase other hummers away from the feeder. Left the 1 feeder with yellow feeding ports-since this is he end of the hummingbird season nearly you can also paint the feeding ports red. Keep feeder up until no more hummers seen for sev weeks. In order to attract the bees to the one I wanted them to use poured some sugar water on the ground directly below and on the outside of the feeder. Good Luck
you can put up a bee trap, and it wont hurt the birds, but they are more attracted to it versus the feeder. you can buy these bee traps at feed stores, or hardware stores, they dont have chemicals or anything, and they dont hurt the bees either, it just traps them inside. you should try it!
Hi dear!


somewhere i read putting a bowl of vinegar on the table while you are eating, keeps the bees away. you could try that here too..





cheers!!
If it is attracting bees then get different bird food.The same thing happened to me and when I changed the food,it worked.
I would try moving the feeder to another location. If that does work hang another feeder up and even try using a different type of feeder.
IT'S CALLED ';RAID';!!!


i know...i know poor little birdies!! well the only thing i hate more than birds is bees So if i can knock em both out at once then...HOORAY!! Freedom of Speech Baby!!
call a hitman
Ya, I don't think you can do anything about it, but why don't you put some beer in there and at least they will all have a good time and maybe the bees will be too drunk to sting anyone.
read up on feeders on google. i can't stress that enough. if you're going to feed birds of any type make sure you not only use the proper feeder but feed. feeders attract the worse nuisances.





watch out for other varmin also.. you may end up with a wolf at your door if you're not careful. (depending on region)





to rid the bees... use fireworks... of course you'll have to replace the feeder.
if this is still puzzling you after checking a bunch of answers try calling a local exterminator. my dad is one and he can get rid of bees without hurting the bird 100% of the time.