BajaNomad - honey bees in my hummingbird feeder

honey bees in my hummingbird feeder

measomsan - 11-20-2011 at 03:23 PM

been coming down for a few years and never had an issue. now the bees , honey type are taking over our feeders

any thoughts would help

Russ - 11-20-2011 at 03:33 PM

I just moved mine away from the house because the bees kept coming in. I thought they'd slow down this time of year but the last few days they took over and the birds aren't feeding now.

BajaBlanca - 11-20-2011 at 03:44 PM

we had to give up on the feeders precisely due to the bees

and now we have a huge hive in one of my small trees in the back yard so please someone give suggestions on how to handle BEES !!!

Mengano - 11-20-2011 at 04:09 PM

Bees are very location sensitive and have short memories. Knock them off the feeder with a stick and move the feeder about 20 feet away. The hummers will spot it right away. It may take the bees a long time to relocate it by chance. Just keep moving the feeder around.

Mula - 11-20-2011 at 04:11 PM

Lightly spray the feeder with PAM - all around. Bees go.

Cypress - 11-20-2011 at 04:12 PM

Bees? Or yellow jackets? Lot's of folks don't know the difference.

woody with a view - 11-20-2011 at 04:40 PM

funny how the bee population is in decline and here we go trying to find the best way to kill off the newest hive....

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1087

DENNIS - 11-20-2011 at 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
funny how the bee population is in decline and here we go trying to find the best way to kill off the newest hive....

They sure haven't been in decline around here. This past summer, they were everywhere, all the time.
I think the local ejido has gone into the Apiary business here in the hills. I saw a bunch of Bee Boxes being built at the local Ferreteria.

My neighbor, who used to be a Bee Keeper, says all of these Bees are Africanized. [now....there's an invitation for a hijack if ever I heard one]

J.P. - 11-20-2011 at 05:00 PM

They get in a tree in my back yard it sounds like the whole Zulu Nation chanting. :lol:

Paulina - 11-20-2011 at 05:09 PM

We usually have a terrible bee problem in Bahia during the later summer months. This past summer they were a bit late in showing up, but they did. They came after the fresh water and they would find it no matter how hard we tried to conserve.

I used to be able to put a 5gal bucket of water some distance away from our place to lure them off. The water would have to be refreshed daily. This past summer when they came they weren't interested in looking elsewhere. They were on to that trick.

They were after the laundry hanging to dry. They also found the faucet that came from the water tank on the deck and crawled up inside. Dern is very allergic to bee's (Epi-pen) so I do my best to keep them away.

The weird thing this summer was when I smacked them with the fly swatter the ones that escaped seemed to disappear for a while but came back with reinforcements. It seemed like they looked for us, they'd ignore the water source on one side of the patio that got their friends in trouble in the first place, and find us on the other side. I was stung quite a few times.

I ended up taking my laundry far, far away to dry and not swatting at the few that would adventure over to our place.

Didn't want to make them mad.

P>*)))>{

[Edited on 21-11-2011 by Paulina]

woody with a view - 11-20-2011 at 05:23 PM

you're a good girl, Paulina.... :saint:

Russ - 11-20-2011 at 05:38 PM

I moved one back to the patio after spraying Pam and within a minute or two the hummers are back.

BigOly - 11-20-2011 at 05:38 PM

I smear a LITTLE marine grease on the branches that hold a feeder. A circular ring just before the feeder will keep the ants off. I started lightly smearing(so thin you can't see it) a TINY bit of marine grease on the artificial flowers on the hummingbird feeder(away from the hole so the birds tongues don't touch it) and the bees just quit coming back to feed. The birds don't mind and the bees don't like it. Just don't overdue it.

Dave - 11-20-2011 at 06:50 PM

Don't hummers and bees naturally compete for nectar?

measomsan - 11-20-2011 at 07:00 PM

Pam worked like a charm.....wack.....

Paulina - 11-20-2011 at 07:04 PM

I'm going to put Pam on my list.

P>*)))>{

Here is my BUZZ about this subject:

mcfez - 11-20-2011 at 07:30 PM

Simple......Take down your feeder.......get a wide container like a pie dish filled with water / a little sugar mixed. Place away from your area. Bees are very attracted to sugars. A few week later, place your feeder back...but keep that dish filled :-)

danaeb - 11-20-2011 at 07:50 PM

Maybe it's the three-year drought in Baja. Their normal sources of nectar are probably diminished, so they're going after whaterever they can find.

In southern baja, the jackrabbits are eating the bark off plumerias and devouring not-so-young agaves for the moisture.

Everyone is thirsty.

bajafam - 11-20-2011 at 08:34 PM

lessen the amount of sugar in the water. Hummers will still drink and get what they need, but the bees won't be interested.

Paulina - 11-20-2011 at 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
...This past summer, they were everywhere, all the time.
I think the local ejido has gone into the Apiary business here in the hills. I saw a bunch of Bee Boxes being built at the local Ferreteria.

My neighbor, who used to be a Bee Keeper, says all of these Bees are Africanized. [now....there's an invitation for a hijack if ever I heard one]

After reading your post Dern reminded me that this past summer he went into the Pacifico Hardware store to get some plumbing parts. He heard a weird hum in the background, but didn't put two and two together. He thought it was some sort of machinery until he got a few fly bys that headed to the back corner of the store. He looked up and saw that an entire colony of bees had flown into the hardware store. He was then in a big hurry to get out of there. Maybe the Bee Boxes you saw were being built for a possible side job for Roy, a Pacifico honey stand?

J.P. - 11-20-2011 at 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paulina

Quote:

Theres a guy here in Punta Banda that will trap Bee's he has traped a couple colonys from a house that is being built here in Rancho Packard, If someone wants his name I can ask around.

Russ - 11-21-2011 at 10:33 AM

Pam results... perfect !
With Pam

Without Pam

So I went out and sprayed the second feeder and the bees returned but didn't stay long. Now every body's happy but the bees :smug:

oladulce - 11-21-2011 at 10:56 AM

A reminder to keep your humming bird feeders nice and clean. Remove and wash them well at the first sign of mold.

Hummers can get a fungal infection from dirty feeders which causes their tongue to swell up so much that their beaks won't close and they can't feed.

It's a terrible sight to see and looks painful. I witnessed a poor guy with a giant tongue keel over while sitting on my feeder many years ago. Don't know if my feeder was the offender but lemme tell you, I've been fanatical about "sterilizing" them ever since.

Just be glad it's only bees...............

Hook - 11-21-2011 at 12:27 PM

These guys can drain a full hummingbird feeder in two nights,

Bob H - 11-21-2011 at 12:53 PM

When I was a kid growing up in Miami we used to get bee hives underneath the roof eaves. My Dad would wad up newpaper on the end of a broom stick, light it on fire, and burn them out. They would never come back after that.

wakemall - 11-21-2011 at 08:04 PM

WD-40 spray will do the same

ddawson - 11-21-2011 at 09:08 PM

ha i saw this on another forum. here is how a few guys handled their bee problem. great photos, some swearing:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=224...

durrelllrobert - 11-22-2011 at 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by measomsan
Pam worked like a charm.....wack.....

Funny, my daddy never mentioned Pam when he taught me about the birds and bees :lol:

Jaybo - 11-22-2011 at 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by durrelllrobert
Funny, my daddy never mentioned Pam when he taught me about the birds and bees :lol:

Aerosol lube? Now there is an idea...

/lurkermode ON

Mexitron - 11-22-2011 at 01:28 PM

When we're camping out in the Seven Sisters area we have to be very careful about putting empty soft-drink and beer containers inside an airtight container---the bees go nuts for leftover droplets in them---we've had hundreds swarming our camp at times...eh, mainly on those days we drink too much beer and forget about throwing the cans out.... :spingrin:

Gracias for the PAM idea.

bajadave1 - 11-24-2011 at 08:05 AM

I will try that one today.

Russ - 11-24-2011 at 08:16 AM

I told my neighbor about Pam and she's "been there done that". She says the Pam will harden and make cleaning the feeders a pain so she now wipes the feeders with canola oil and it works and is much easier to clean once the Pam was cleaned off.