Hummingbird Concentrate

Hummingbirds are my favorite birds, hands down. I love them! I could sit on my front porch for hours and watch them fussing, fighting, bickering, and dive bombing. I do not see how they do not kill each other or fly into something and kill themselves. Their speed and agility boggles the mind. They are truly a wonder of nature, and by far, the most fascinating bird.

Too many times, it seems that I discover my feeders have been eaten dry, and my little pets are dive bombing me, telling me to fill them. They seem to have little fear of me sitting 18-24" from their feeder on the porch, and oftentimes in their flight as they are fighting, their tiny wings will brush the top of my head. The problem is, after I boil the sugar water to help keep it from spoiling in the summer heat, it needs to cool down for a long time before I can fill the feeders.

I don't like the commercial nectar due to the coloring, and it is expensive too, so I pondered on what to do. I came up with the idea of making my own hummer concentrate. I boil equal parts of sugar and water, for example 2 cups each water and sugar, bring to a full boil, and let cool completely. You can fill your feeders using one part of the cooled concentrate and three parts water. This gives you the recommended ratio of one part sugar to four parts water. Then I pour the leftover concentrate into a clean empty water bottle and freeze it. Fill the bottle only 3/4 full. Use as many bottles as you need. I thaw it up in the microwave, in 30-second runs, checking the bottle to see whether it needs another round. Sometimes it may, sometimes not. Sometimes it might need only 10 seconds, but you are ready to clean your feeder and fill it in a flash! And you can re-freeze any leftovers. I have had no problems with multiple freezing and thawing. It is so simple and so easy!

I have 5 feeders hanging here. There are several hummers. I have tried to count them, but I cannot. There are too many and they are WAY too wild, each trying to ensure that another one doesn't get a sip. It has simplified my hummer season because I make up a lot and just freeze it. I have included a photo of the frozen concentrate. I'm ready!