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Hummingbird Food Recipe Making
your own hummingbird food recipe is very easy to do. You can
make your own recipe by using water and granulated sugar. A
hummingbirds favorite
color, is red. Many people think the food recipe must also
be red. That is not the case, there is no reason to add the food
coloring to the recipe to get the hummingbirds to come to your feeders.
Your feeder because it is red will attract them to the
food. There is some question whether the red food coloring may
hurt the hummingbirds. The best thing to do is stay away from
the food coloring altogether.
The food recipe is made up of one cup granulated sugar to four cups water. The one to four ratio is a close match to what is found in real nectar that hummingbirds gather when they fly from flower to flower. Never use artificial sweeteners or honey to make your hummingbird food. As these may create a fungus in the hummingbirds mouth and have no energy boosting value. Start your recipe by adding four cups of water in a sauce pan, add the sugar, stir the mixture over low heat until it comes to a boil. The reason you are boiling the mixture is to eliminate chlorine from your water . This also kills any yeast and mold spores the maybe in the sugar. The hummingbird food mixture should boil for two minutes and set aside to cool. Make sure to only boil the mixture for two minutes. Boiling the mixture any longer will remove to much water and will the ratio of sugar to water can change. Boiling the water to long can result in a recipe with a higher sugar strength which can attract insects. When your hummingbird food has cooled, add the mixture to your feeder. If your feeder will not hold all of the mixture you have made, it can be stored in the refrigerator for seven to eight days. Remember, you do not have to fill your feeder completely. It is best to use only enough mixture in your feeder for the amount of hummingbirds using it. Contents and photos may not be copied or used without express written permission. Copyright 2010 |