Here are a few tips that work for me. The best thing, though a bit messy, put a small layer of petroleum jelly on the outside of the feeding holes or anywhere else the sugar water may be coming out. The hummers don't mind it and the wasps hate it.
Try not to fill the feeder too high. Put the sugar water in the lower reservoir only, preferably below the holes. Less leaking. Of course, if you have hundreds of hummers, this isn't the best choice. Move your feeders around the yard each time you change the sugar water out or even daily. Hummers will find them and wasps (temporarily) will keep going back to the old locations. I've heard buying feeders that don't have yellow on them may work. Though, I have one with white holes and the wasps still come. Wasp traps are great, but they only work for yellow jacket types. The paper wasps (long legs) don't enter them. For added yellow jacket trapping power, put fresh meat in the trap (on the trap's meat stakes) along with the pheromones. Hope this helps. Bird on all! Alison Kondler Jefferson County On Sunday, July 15, 2012 4:16:24 PM UTC-6, Kirk Huffstater wrote: > > FYI...... > > A wasp/hornet trap in the same vicinity might help greatly, and won't > interfere with the hummingbirds. Sometimes the traps work wonderfully, > other times not as much, but it might be worth a try. > > Here are some DIY ideas for wasp traps, which I've also tried and had > success with; they're just as good as the ones you buy, or even better > since > they're "free". > > http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wasp-Trap > http://tipnut.com/wasp-trap/ > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR9QAoKF-mc > > Kirk Huffstater > Castle Rock, CO > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Lin & Tim > Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2012 3:47 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Douglbirds] Help! Wasp epidemic! > > The past several days, wasps have taken over our Hummzinger Ultra > feeder--which has nectar guard tips! I have moved the feeder to three > other > locations, and the wasps have found it every time--even though the feeder > is > hanging in the shade. I tried not filing the base as much, and sprinkling > the feeder with the hose or wiping it off frequently. We have sprayed all > the cracks and crevices under our eaves (in case there's a nest we can't > see), but that hasn't worked, either. The wasps are attacking the > hummers, > and driving the birds away. I don't want to risk having the little guys > stung. Should I discontinue feeding for a while, in hopes that the wasps > will lose interest? And if so, will my hummers come back or go elsewhere? > > Any recommendations or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks! > > Linda Williams > Highlands Ranch > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/JK82IEQ8yPsJ. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
