Depending on how hot it is, every other day, or daily. The hotter it is, the quicker the sugar water will spoil. Don't use red dye, it's not necessary and can potentially be harmful. Christy :)

Also you might consider using bottled water , if youre tap water doesnt taste good to you , it wont be preferred by the hummers.

For sure, you don't need the red dye.

http://fdjanzen.mystarband.net/pages/08092005-051.htm

I put some feeder cleaning and maintenance information on "My Page", if anyone's interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Frank's Feeders without red dye

Jimmyjojo----Ditto

Do you ever have problems with breakage of the plastic where the glass screws into the plastic base? Mine do not last more than 6-7 months and have to replace them.. Tightening them too tight? NO.... that is NOT the problem

midnightgirl: Most of the books say every 2-3 days but more often if the solution seems spoiled when you go to change it.

adelante: Sounds like faulty engineering to me. I've had that problem too but solved it by switching to "flying saucer" feeders that don't have a bottle. I don't get too many hummingbirds most of the season so I don't really need a bottle.

I've had my little guys visiting every night about dusk. Hubby has seen 2 at a time.

They seem to love my little feeder where you screw on the bottle. It has yellow flowers. The other 2 are humdingers and look like flying saucers. "The little guys aren't as attracted to them. Anyone have the same thing going on?

Adelante,

Can you post a picture of the plastic parts you are using. I've had mine for a few years now and have never had a problem with the plastic and glass threaded parts. If you upload your pictures to photobucket you can just post the link here. And we can have a better look at the problem.

-Joe

Never had a problem with any of the parts breaking myself. And I have a rather ecclectic collection of feeders. I've found they don't have to be jammed VERY tight to maintain liquid security.

Yardenman, I assume you're referring to me. Let me explain myself. I say it takes me 5 minutes to clean and change my feeders, because it does. I have the hummzinger mini, and a hummzinger window feeder, up right now. Super easy to clean with dishsoap, refill and hang in 5 minutes. I have NEVER had mold build up on it, like I did on my Best-1. The base of that broke, and I still have the glass container. The nectar I keep in the fridge. I make about a quart of it once a week, usually while cooking dinner. Eat while it is cooling, then stick it in the fridge until I'm ready to use it. So, I don't include it in the time. Simple, easy and ready to go. A quick wash, refill and hang. I agree, it doesn't have to be difficult and I'm not trying to discourage others from feeding them, perhaps then can send them my way earlier!! BTW, I'm assuming you're not far from me?? I'm in Laurel :) Christy

Thank you Christy. It looks like I can simplify my hummer feeder procedures. I didn't know I could make extra nectar and store it in the fridge, and I've discovered in another post that I don't have to boil the nectar either. I may also have been going overboard about cleaning the feeders.

Question for someone---

I think I had read that we should not use dishwashing liquid to clean hummer feeders as it will leave a small amount of residue and hummers either did not like it or were affected by this. Has anyone read this?? Just curious. I too use to use dish detergent until I read that article.

Now....

This is what I do... I take mine apart fully and put them in dishwasher( on top rack) with dishwasher powder and let them go through wash and rinse cyles, but not the dry cycle. Then I take them out and place them in a clean sink of cool water and rinse. I change the rinse water several times (3 or 4) and finally hand dry. Someone had told me that dishwasher powder for dishwashers was made of bleach so I figure any mold will be killed. Also, I do not fill the dishwasher dispenser to capacity, only maybe 1/4 full. This is the way I do it.

Also I change my feeders about every 5th day, but I check for mold daily. During the hottest weather I will change more often, or even take my feeder down and place some of the nectar on my tongue to make sure it is not sour. It gets really hot where I live...and humid, so I check on that daily. Am I grossing any of you out by testing my nectar myself???? LOL... I haven't died from it yet...

rthummer, I have read that about the dishwashing liquid. So I started washing with vinegar, and then bleach once a week. However, I went out of town without DH for about 2 weeks. I put him in charge of cleaning and changing my feeders. When I got home, I found out he'd been cleaning with dishwashing liquid. I was really worried that they would taste the residue, but all of them still came. So, now I just scrub really quick with a scrubber and dishsoap, refill with nectar I premake and store in the fridge, and rehang my feeders. Simple!!

BTW, taste the nectar???? YES!! You're grossing me out!! :) Christy

Christy,
LOL,LOL. Didn't mean to gross ya' out. Roflol
I haven't had any long term affects from taste testing the nectar, although I have found I am more attracted to red....really strange, I say....

Happy hummering, everyone, no matter how you do it....Just keep those babes happy. ;)

I live in SC and I change the water every five days. But if I see it getting kinda moldy I change and wash feeders right away. I have nine feeders and usually about 15 hummingbirds come each year. I start putting out the feeders March 25th.

I live in northwest Florida, and I clean our feeders and put in new sugar water once a week. Sooner if it begins to look cloudy, which doesn't happen often, even in the heat of our summers. When I clean the feeders, I use a splash of bleach in the sink along with dish soap and very hot water, and let them soak while the boiled sugar solution is cooling in my fridge. I rinse excessively well so there is no bleach or soap residue. The hummers flock to it all day from morning to dusk, and they seem healthy and happy with it, so I believe they're doing fine with weekly changes, and I've never fretted about soap residue—just rinse well and it's fine!

Hi, I'm new to the game of "humming" but I absolutely love seeing the hummingbirds. I see them in my garden all the time and I think all year long. They particularly like the Hollyhocks and Hibiscus, however, I also have pink flowers(?) that grow (vine) on a gate that they love too. I live in Southern California and in the past couple of years my interest was spiked because watching the hummingbirds is so calming. I know that I've seen Anna's, Costas, and Calliope; possibly Rufous, maybe more. The Anna's seems to be the friendliest and chirps at me (saying thank you). Anyway, it was because of the Anna's that I got feeders and put them closer to my patio so I could watch them more carefully, more often, which aided me in figuring out which type of hummers I see. I've only had my feeders since February and I clean them twice a week. I just use very hot water with vinegar to clean my bottled (three) feeders, then rinse with very hot water and let dry. So far, I still see just as many birds and they keep coming back, I guess it's ok. My mother-in-law also lives in Southern CA, but she gets a different color of hummer than I do that likes her Bird of Paradise and the blossoms on her fruit trees. Is that possible, because we only live 40 miles apart?

Though I change my feeders' water about once a week, I would like to comment on some other things discussed here: I make my feeding mixture by placing a half cup of sugar in a pint canning jar, filling the rest almost all the way up to the top with water and placing the filled, open jar in my microwave. I microwave for 2 minutes. In that time the sugar either dissolves on its own or with one or two stirs. I remove the jar form the MW using oven mitts and cover it lightly (about 2 turns) with its top. and let it cool.

After 20 years of feeding these guys, I feel that the best feeders are the saucer type. I have two of them and partially fill one with half the cooled solution. About that much is all the hummers that come to my front porch will eat in a week. The other half of the solution goes in the fridge with the top turned loosely on it. If you turn it tight it is murder to get it off once the cooled sugar solution sticks it to the jar. I clean the feeder that I am taking down with very hot water. (Beware of placing bird feeders in your dishwasher. Birds carry disease that you can contract. My dishwasher has a steam setting and a sanitizing setting, but I still prefer not to put bird things in it.) My washed feeder goes out on the porch floor to dry with its cover either next to it or loosely on it and will be ready next time I change feeders. I use the remaining half of the mixture for that next feeding.

I just bought my first hummingbird feeder and filled it with the nectar it came with. I hung it on a branch under my tree, safe from other critters and in the shade. That was Saturday. Today, Tuesday, I noticed the feeder is completely empty. There's a little syrup on the ground below, but NOT 11 oz worth. Can hummers go thru it that fast?

Yes, or if you are like a lot of the country right now, it evaporates pretty quickly too.

Oh thanks! I took it down from the first place (too high up). I've found a better place with shade outside a front window, and best - easy access now that I know it needs cleaned and filled weekly.

i change mine once a week no matter how hot and i get hummingbirds all day long

i also use food coloring and the audubon society told me it was safe

Whoever told you that red dye is safe is an IDIOT!

The following excerpt is from the Audubon Societys hummingbird nectar recipie website:

Materials:

• 1/4 cup refined white sugar

[Ed. note: Please do use refined white sugar. Honey can promote dangerous fungal growth. Organic, natural, and raw sugars contain levels of iron that could be harmful. Plain white table sugar is sucrose, which, when mixed with water, very closely mimics the chemical composition of natural nectar.]

• 1 cup boiling water

• Bowl

• Spoon

Note: There's no need for red dye here. Red coloring is not necessary and the chemicals could prove to be harmful to the birds.

You are NOT supposed to use red dye in the feeder and if it’s hot it must be changed every day or two days. Cooler weather it can be changed every week. Do some research on your own to really informed. I’ve yet to read it’s safe to put red dye in the feeder. That’s what they USED to do.

No red food coloring!