There are instructions for making a feeder on our FAQs that Mike Cronin did for us. Check it out.

My friend Sandy recommended using suet feeders (for birds) and I use that stuffed with rotten banana or other rotting fruit. They cost about $2 at Walmart and other places.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Hanging Butterfly Feeders

Hi Susan-
Yes, I did see the FAQ instruction, as well as having searched here for some ideas (and came across your suet-feeder one, too.

Do you modify it at all? I've seen those...actually I have one, but have never used it, so I guess I'm concerned that the stuff will fall out the holes when it dries up?

I guess I was just looking to see pictures of some neat ones to run with an idea to make one of my own (there's no pictures in the FAQ one ;) )

The rotting fruit is kind of drippy, but where it falls on the ground, the butterflies also congregate there to partake. Actually as the fruit dries it adheres to the feeder and is easy to remove in a clump. I use a bent hangar to attach the short chain and I slather the chain with vaseline to keep the ants at bay. Lots of little knats and such also gather at the feeder. and it is hung in close proximity to my hummingbird feeder. The hummers love to consume the little knats, too, and chasing them down with a sip of sugar water, so the feeder provides a dual function. Rotting fruit does attract flies so don't hang too close to your house.

I don't know that I have ever actually surfed for images of a feeder, but another idea are those shallow dishes sold in garden centers (I had one I got at Walmart for cheap cheap). They are probably prettier if you are more into aesthetics than I am. It was a carved stone dish with 3 evenly spaced chains so it would hang straight.

Dollar stores and such usually have lots of things that, using one's imagination, can be used for a variety of functions that are not what they are specifically intended for. Keep an eye out for these and I'm sure you'll find something that will fit your needs.

I don't use a syrupy mixture like some do, so the suet feeder works well for just a couple of pieces of decomposing fruit. Otherwise. you would need a better container for a soup blend. I had dozens and dozens of HEs, TEs, QMs, RAs, etc, all over the suet feeders this summer.

Sus