Hmmm...want to borrow my ant hammer?

{{gwi:993893}}

Heh! Heh!

I rub vick's vapor rub around my hangers...seems to keep the ants away quite well. I've heard vaseline works too.

~ Cat

I use ant cups filled with water and get
an added bonus.
It keeps the ants out of the feeder and the birds
think I put those pretty red cups out just for them.
Shoot, any day now they're gonna be wanting some
of those fancy flavored coffees.

I've never thought of Vick's, Cat, who'd have thunk it.

CJ, I haven't seen many ants around here this year, maybe
they are hidden in the jungle of weeds around this place.
I'd try Cat's suggestion, it may be a cheaper solution than
buying ant cups at 5 bucks a pop.
Good luck.

Jan

Janis would that be bird friendly coffee? (sorry couldn't help myself). Sarah

I never had any luck with Vicks or Vaseline; the ants were willing to sacrifice a few bodies to make a bridge over/through it and they figured it out in just a few hours. You may have more reluctant ants, though, so it's worth a shot. I have six of the $5 Trap-It ant traps and am going to get a couple more because they're the only thing that really works in this yard.

It's true that other birds love them (and wasps, too, unfortunately) and some gorgeous blue birds turned up to splash in them. I've never seen them before, I guess they never held still long enough; I think they're Purple Martins.

I am an new comer to the list but I saw someone suggest Vaseline and it worked for me. I think Vicks main componet is Vaseline.

Walt Conner

here's a link for the trap-it ant trap mentioned above. it looks really good. plastic for 5.49.

http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=WLA-S-10008

linked below is the catalog page to bander bob sargent's hbsg hummer/bird study group. scroll down to the eat-1 everlasting ant trap. that's the one I use. it works instantly and is very effective. aluminum for $8. sales proceeds help fund the study group.

squirrels and ants and bees, oh my!
good luck keeping the ants away. my feeders and nectar stay a lot cleaner with the ant barriers.

Here is a link that might be useful: hbsg catalog page

I take a piece of tin foil, make it into a funnel shape, and invert it on the wire supporting the hummingbird feeder. Then I add tanglefoot into it, and it keeps the ants at bay. No bridges, no eventual trails over it. If it works for weevils and beetles, it works for ants.

Thanks everyone for all the tips. I'll try the vasoline first since I already have some. If that fails, it's on to plan B. Fortunately, my Zinnias and Delphiniums have kept the little guys occupied.

Okay, I've got a question. I've recently been using those ant cups. I really never had an ant problem before, so didn't do anything until I moved a certain feeder to a new location, now I've got a huge mound of ants just floating (still alive) in the cup.

I had always assumed that they'd eventually drown and die in the water. Is that not true? Do the birds really come to eat them? Guess my birds haven't found them yet (wonder if wrens would be interested).

I use a homemade water moat, just took an old lid from a can of Pam cooking oil and punched a hole in the middle and threaded it on the wire hanger above the feeder. I plugged the hole with a hot glue gun and keep the moat filled with water. Haven't had ant problems since and there used to be ants all over it. I also try and wash the area with water to eliminate any sugar water that may have spilled.

In some favorite ant locations like mulberry trees, you may at first get a huge pile of ants in the cup like that. Eventually the mindset of the ant colony changes when foragers don't come back with food, or just don't come back at all. They quit trying in such large numbers sooner or later if the cup is kept full.

Eventually they drown, but they may also climb over each other to get into the feeder, so I usually flush them out with a watering can when I'm topping up the cups.

DPallas, that has been my experience as well. The ant moats with water may not work perfectly the first few days of use, but after a week or two of trying, the ants just give up and leave the feeder alone.

Disclaimer:I do not agree with nor endorse the use of "Sponsored Links" possibly embedded in my posts by the owner of this or any other website, and I choose not to patronize businesses who use this deceptive form of advertising.

You can wrap a vegetable oil soaked pipestem cleaner. I have done that for years. Just refresh the pipestem in the spring when I am putting out the clean feeders. I also hang my feeders on a shepards hook and make sure there are no branches or anything else touching to make a bridge for the ants. Myra

When I purchased some new feeders I had a problem with ants getting into my feeders. Mine hang from the side of the house so I just sprayed the hanger and side of house with ant spray and I have not seen them since. Just another suggestion.

Knock on wood, but I have never had a problem with ants.

No problem with ants here....Just HONEY BEES!

I make my own ant traps out of the bottom of 20 oz. soda bottles (I first used caps from aerosol cans, but I thought they looked a bit tacky) so, I just cut the clear bottles off and heat a piece of coat hanger heated with a candle and push it thru the center and then seal it with silicone glue. I bend the hanger to fit whatever I'm going to hang it from and bend the other end for the feeder. Haven't had ants at all this year...just bees and little bitty black fly like bugs getting into the bottles and drowning! If it works, you can see most of it in this picture from last year.
glo

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:996922}}

I use bugsnub guards.