Yes, I boil the water, but not to a rolling boil, just until it begins to boil. I remove it from heat, add the sugar and stir until it completely melts, letting it sit for a few minutes, then refrigerate. There are those who use hot tap water, and while that is probably OK, I've been using this method for many years. Don't know if this is based on years of study, but I read somewhere that boiling the water slows fermentation...whether that's 100% accurate or not, I've no idea.

Donna

I microwave my water for about 1 minute in a glass measuring cup then add the sugar. I toss in two or three ice cubes and fill up the feeder. It seems to work well. No matter what method you use, just make sure that you keep the feeder nice and clean. Placing it in a shady area near plants help the sugar solution last a little bit longer as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden

Thanks Donna and kr!

The reason I asked is that I received the Aspects Jewel Box today and on the flap of the box it states to add sugar to the water and boil. In the box on the paper work included it states to add sugar to the boiling water. Either way, over boiling would not be good as it would change the ratio, unless one measures the water after it boiled. I wonder though if one over boils the sugar solution if it would burn the sugar?

I never use hot tap water for cooking purposes. Reason is that I heard on the news years ago that the insides of hot water heaters are not food grade.

Even though I dont boil I dont think it makes a difference when you add sugar to boiling water it will be disolved. Just remember as soon as a hummer dips its beak into the feeder water its immediately contaminated so its a moot point. If you change and clean the feeder every couple of days it just doesnt make any difference. The important thing would be to keep mold out of the feeder its easy to see when it starts forming.