This seems like a good article about the different kinds of sugar available for humans to eat. Some relevant parts to this discussion are that both cane sugar and beet sugar are chemically identical forms of sucrose, (which consists of 1 fructose and 1 glucose molecule bonded together,) and that cane and beet sugars are highly processed:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/...
It seems logical to me to wonder if something processed can be as good as something natural...
This article is about the nectar in blooms and their sugar content. A relevant part to this discussion is that nectar can also contain just fructose or just glucose:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...).
Some articles about hummingbird diet:
https://www.tucsonaudubon.org/...
This one mentions using spring water. It expressly says to not use organic sugar because the iron in molasses is harmful to hummers, answers that question about processed being better, in this particular circumstance:
https://www.hummingbirdsociety...
What about tap water? Are chlorination and fluoride harmful to hummingbirds? My tap water has these in it. Probably should be part of the discussion.
And why do instructions always say to put 1 cup of sugar into 4 cups of water? I never make more than 1 cup of water with ¼ cup of sugar. That fills 2 feeders and I always dump most of it out 1-2 days later.
I'm not sure it matters whether hummers or people are eating beet or cane sugar. Bad for people, good for hummers.
But it would be interesting for someone who has a lot of hummers to experiment with both cane and beet sugars to see if the hummers notice a difference.
