Just a reminder to either not use soap at all when scrubbing feeders or be sure to rinse, rinse, rinse. If a few drops of bleach are used to soak the feeders clean be sure to rinse very well afterward. Hooray for hummers! What fun they are!

I had not heard the soap warming before - does it hurt the hummers?

I would imagine it could at least give them a bad case of diarrhea.
That's a great photo, Gardenbees!

Yes, soap is VERY bad for the little birds. We can usually get our feeders completely clean with just hot water and toothbrushes or other scrubbers that are reserved for hummingbird feeders only. We NEVER use those tools on anything but the bird feeders and we keep them where nothing else from the sink or cabinet can contaminate them.

Glad you like the picture. That little bird spent an afternoon on the Garlic Chives, taking nectar from the blooms and then resting right there between sips!

Fast response, thank you! I'm guessing that rules out the dishwasher, too ....

Good advise gardenbees. I agree about the photo too, so cute!

What the Hummingbird water is concerned, I always give it another short boil after I added the sugar. I have found that sugar has "dust particles and minute foreign objects" in it. They are very small, but nevertheless, they are there and have made my water bad even in the fridge.(some gray clouds are floating in it, which I strain out with a coffee filter) I now freeze my "water stash" until I need it in those plastic apple sauce containers from Costco. They are great for this.
Inge, CA

Yes, Sheryl, I avoid the dishwasher. Just hand wash with plenty of hot water.

Another great pic, Gardenbees! By July the hummers are swarming my feeders too, and they go through approx. five cups of nectar per day!

I rinse the feeders every time I refill which is every day during the busy times & I hardly ever have to use soap to clean them. Actually, I'm surprised I said to use soapy water...

I've never seen more than one at our feeder at a time, so that is an amazing photo to me!

We used to have more than 50 birds at a time (and refilled feeders daily) but after Hurricane Katrina the numbers have been severely reduced. We are doing all we can to help by planting more plants they like each year, using fewer pesticides each year, and getting the feeders out in March and leaving them up until very late fall.

Glad you enjoyed the photo, wildflowers and KyWoods!

Gardenbees, you should show off your pics over on the hummingbird thread here, I'm sure everyone will love to see them.

Here's the link:
The thread "Hummingbird photos" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

Thanks for the suggestion about the hummingbird forum. I'll have to "visit" over there!

Aww, they are sooo cute!

The hummingbird society says to wash with a mild soap and rinse very well.

http://www.hummingbirdsociety....

I'm researching hummers right. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. I don't think they are that well researched.

That sounds like good advise. If you are going to wash your feeders definitely use a mild soap and rinse very well.

I will say that I do not wash my feeders with soap very often during the feeding season. I wash them good with soap at the beginning of the season before I put them out and then again at the end of the season with soap before I put them away over winter. At the season's end I will also soak them in bleach to get rid of any mold spores that might be hiding in the crack and crevices.

During the feeding season, I use several bottle brushes and water each and every time before refilling. But, I do this just about every day. If you leave your feeder sitting for a week at a time before changing the nectar, chances are mold started so you will need to make sure you get all the mold which might require soap. The important thing is to make sure you rinse it all very good. Hummingbirds are tiny, the average Ruby-throated hummingbird weighs 0.11 ounces. Tiny!

Good luck with your hummingbird feeding. I don't know when they arrive your way but they typically show up here the first week of April. They're probably still down somewhere in the tropics but I'm ready to see them again!!