Hi Maureen and welcome to the wonderful world of hummerz!

First of all throw away the commercial nectar mix and don't waste your money on that stuff. It is much safer to use just plain old pure cane table sugar and water. Here is the recipe: add 1/4 cup of sugar (no color added please) to 1 cup of previously boiled water. Stir well to completely dissolve the sugar. Refrigerate the mix until it is cool then pour it into clean feeders. In hot weather replace nectar and clean feeders every 2-3 days to prevent mold and mildew from growing. If nectar looks cloudy it is fermenting so dump it immediately and clean and refill feeder with fresh nectar. Don't use any other additives in the mix as this is as close to natural nectar as you can get. For people who are just starting out and don't see any hummers only pour enough nectar into the feeder so that you can see it and refrigerate the rest to use when you change the nectar. It may take a while before you start seeing any hummers in your area and you may or may not see any now until next year as they are into the southward migration but I suggest keeping at least one feeder up and fresh in case some migrators come your way. THis morning my yard was buzzing with migrators. There are lots of rubythroats in Canada and they will be heading south and looking for food sources.

Penny in western NY

I want to add that not only is the sugar/water solution more safe, but hummingbirds actually prefer the taste of the homemade. I could not get them to drink the store nectar for anything!

I was wondering if it's bad to keep a feeder up over the winter season.
Someone told me that the hummers won't leave and go South if we keep feeders out. It mixes them up.
Is this true?

Carol,

In your area, like mine..no....leave the feeder up... The advice (from our local bird expert) is keep them up. Reason..hummers eat insects, and in any southern climate, as you well know, there are insects year round..yes, a freeze may kill the mosquitos, but they come back...example, I'm in coastal SC, and as far north as the outer banks of NC, the hummers have wintered there as long as the residents can remember, and I think the same could be said for Texas...as you're in zone 8.

Be faithful, and keep your feeder up...as if nothing else, you may feed a wanderer who needs a meal...example, I had a hummer visit my garden on 12/15 last year, that was our last day before the freeze, ad I'm on the coast..I saw my first returner in mid March...buzzing at my window..and the nights were still quite cool!.my bird man lives 20 miles inland, and says he has them all year....

Yes, may be a maintenace thing to change the nectar, but much less a need in winter than summer, just make in large batches and store in fridge.

Keeping a feeder up year round has no baring on when the hummers migrate. Hummers migrate south as the days get shorter in the fall so it is the daylight (for lack of the technical term or lack of daylight which triggers their migration. Even in the northern states there are hummers who become to old, ill or weakened for some reason that are unable to migrate and the nectar they are able to get from feeders will help them to survive.

I still have a garden full of nectar rich flowers but my hummers are gone. If a food source would keep them around I would still have plenty right up to freezing.

Penny