I heard of one lady having one of those heating lamps close to the feeder to keep it from freezing. Two years ago I had a black chin stay during Dec.& Jan. so I set my alarm at 6am to heat the syrup in the microwave for a few of seconds on the very cold nights. It was hard but worth it. I know my neighbors probably thought I was koo-koo but it didn't stop me. I enjoyed the hummer for quite a few weeks.

Just a regular old outdoor light bulb might give off enough heat to keep the syrup from freezing. Increasing the sugar ratio from 4-to-1 to 3-to-1 helps, too. Mine's hanging under eaves about a foot from the house and doesn't freeze until below 28.

Keep extra sugar water in the fridge for quick warm up/refills.

I bring the feeders in on cold nights and put them on a cookie sheet, then put them out again before sunrise. It's not that much trouble.

I have set a flat feeder (hummzinger type) in a protected area directly on a piece of tile wrapped in heat tape. Also I went from a 1:4 sugar/water solution to a 1:3. My hummer left before the bugs quit hatching, but I was told that if it stayed beyond that point, it would need extra protein in the form of a supplement called Nektar Plus. You should be able to do a search for this online. Good Luck!
Marilyn

Nektar Plus is generally only sold to zoos, avian sanctuaries, vets, licensed rehabbers and the like as it was created to provide the proper nutrition for captive nectar feeding birds. It is quite expensive and needs to be mixed fresh and changed more than once a day. This is something you would have to research before trying to obtain it. I believe it is only available through the German company that makes it and their US counterpart which I think is in Florida.

Penny

Nektar Plus is available in the US from their Florida distributor. It,HOWEVER,should only be used in emergencies,such as an over-Wintering Hummer in cold climates. The directions must be followed exactly,as it is very sensitive to temperature,spoilage,etc. I have experience with successfully using it to over-Winter a Hummer at my home.

I think your outdoor hummers will be just fine without the Nektar Plus. There's still plenty of bugs around, at least at my house, and both bugs and birds are plenty active during the day.

The low was 22 degrees this last weekend. Early morning, I was watching hummers at the feeder, and over several minutes watched one guy flick his tongue down many times. I was thinking, cool, the 3-to-1 mix didn't freeze at 22, but noticed as he flew off that the syrup was frozen solid.

I quickly thawed it out for them but apparently, they can intake some amount of sugar even from a frozen feeder.