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dominidan

hummzinger question

dominidan
15 years ago

Yes, I have another question. My first new hummzinger ultra is on it's way to my front door as I speak. I noticed that many of you have tons of hummers feeding from your zinger. I have two (a female and male). The amount my feeders change from first fill to the next new fill is not visible to my old eyes, even when the male visits 10 times in 45 minutes. This new feeder holds 12 oz. of nectar. I'm guessing that this could last all summer, if it didn't go bad, lol. My question is how much nectar do I need to put in this ultra, and stll have the hummers be able to reach the nectar, if I'm changing out evry two or three days?

Comments (9)

  • christy2828
    15 years ago

    I have the hummzinger mini, but I think it is about the same depth, just a wider base. I put the bare minimum in mine, it goes bad too quickly. Also, I just don't have the amount of hummingbirds others have to finish it. Especially this year. They seem to reach the nectar with no problem, and I don't put much in. I think it is marked with ounces on the side, I'll look in the morning and see :) Christy

  • dominidan
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks Christy. I appreciate the information. The hummzinger is still in route.

  • christy2828
    15 years ago

    That's another great thing about this feeder. A little sugar water goes a long way. I have 3 feeders, one is a large window feeder, I'll link to it's picture below. I usually make a batch of 2 1/2 cups of sugar water (1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups water), and use half of it for the first batch, and the other half for a second batch. I used to make more, but I actually had sugar water go bad in the refrigerator. So now I make smaller batches :) Christy

    This Hummerfest window feeder is quite large, it is 12" x 8".

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hummerfest Window Feeder

  • dominidan
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Christy, that window feeder looks great. I guess that will be my next purchase, lol. I put up the hummzinger and the female tried twice to feed. I put those little caps on the holes for insects. I don't know whether the caps are the problem or the nectar is too low, but she got fed up and went to the old feeder. She really seamed to be having a problem with pushing her beak through the cap. I was thinking that she may be getting spooked with the new hummbrella, so I hung the old feeder under it, and no problem in that direction. At the moment I took off two of the four caps to see what happens, but she's too fed up with it to try. I could do away with her choices of feeders but she may leave and not come back. This is frustrating.

  • mbuckmaster
    15 years ago

    Buried in the instructions for the Hummzinger Ultra is a suggestion to not use the rubber tips until the hummers get used to the new feeder, and then try adding them after that. It's easy to overlook (I did too!). Now that my hummers are used to my Ultra, I put a tip on every other day. So one port got it, and then another, and then another, and then the last one. I don't know if that sequence was necessary, but the hummers got used to it and now I have no more floating soup when I change the nectar.

    So try taking the tips off for now, and trying them again in a couple weeks. They'll get used to them!

  • dominidan
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks mbuckmaster. I kinda figured it out backwards and missed the fine print in the guide panthlet. I have my nectar level at about seven now, if I'm reading it correctly and as far as I can tell, the male may be gone. That leaves only the female. She could take a bath in that amount but I'm not sure she can reach it.

  • disneynut1977 ~ Melissa
    15 years ago

    OMG, I have the same problem with not wanting to fill my feeder full(such a waste of SW) and not sure if the hummers will reach the nectar with only putting alittle in. I just got an idea......How about putting cleaned marbles or something like them that can be cleaned too along with the feeder, in the feeder. It would raise the level of the SW, so you don't have to waste as much.

    I also have the hummzinger Ultra and I only have 1 female that I see throughout the day hitting all 3 of my feeders. Even if I do have a few hummers, but can't tell them apart, they don't use anywhere near the amount in those feeders.

    I feel so smart coming up with that, LOL. Has anybody else thought of this?

    Melissa

  • mbuckmaster
    15 years ago

    A clever idea, diz! That could work, although you'd have to be careful about cleaning those marbles well. I'd worry about it promoting mold growth in my sugar water. And a big part of why I have the Hummzingers is ease of cleaning, so putting more cleaning in doesn't work for my busy/lazy lifestyle. =)

    For me, sugar and water are so cheap, I do waste it fairly shamelessly. I usually fill about halfway up for each of my Hummzingers. I can see their tongues through the clear bottom of the feeder reaching that level of sugar water easily, so it works for me. I still do toss away about 2/3 of that when I change every other day, but for me it's worth it to keep the hummers happy!

    I've read about some people who recycle their old sugar water into homemade wasp traps. Haven't tried it myself, but sounds good in theory.

  • dominidan
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem. The female is still refusing to feed at the hummzinger. I think she has bad memories. I wish that the hummzinger guy reads this and makes a more shallow dish. Maybe we could trade ours for the shallow version, disneynut1977.
    A fellow worker came up with the marble thing too, but I want to clean less, not more.

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