How to Make Your Own Hummingbird Feeder Tube
If you want to attract hummingbirds to your lawn or garden, you may either plant flowers that hummingbirds love or hang a hummingbird feeder filled with a solution of water and sugar. If you have no green thumb or no place to grow flowers, a feeder may be the best choice. A hummingbird feeder properly constructed from just about any glass bottle and hung in the right place will attract hummingbirds and serve them well.
Snip a piece of rubber tubing about 5 inches long. Slip about 1 inch of the tubing into the center hole of a clean rubber stopper. You may purchase these stoppers and tubing at craft, garden and science supply stores.
Wiggle a hummingbird feeder bee guard cap onto the end of the rubber tubing. These caps are usually bright colors and feature little cages that keep bees away from the feeder.
Cut a 4-inch piece of 10-gauge wire. Wrap it in a loose spiral around your rubber tubing. Bend the wire and tubing into a U-shape so the hummingbirds can get to it. Be careful not to crimp the tubing.
Clean and rinse an empty beverage bottle very thoroughly. Remove all labels and adhesive from the bottle and paint it with red glass paint. Allow the paint to dry for about two hours. You may use wine, beer, soda or any other round, glass bottle with a long neck.
Cut a piece of 10-gauge wire half again as long as your bottle is tall. For instance, a 10-inch bottle requires a 15-inch length of wire. Wrap about 2 inches of wire around the base of the bottle’s neck. Wrap the rest of the wire in a loose spiral around the body of the bottle. Curl a hook into the end of the wire.
Add 4 parts warm water and 1 part sugar to your bottle. Push the cork into the bottle. Gently shake and swirl the bottle until the sugar dissolves. Hang the bottle upside-down from a sturdy hook.
Tip
Clean your feeder each week. Replace the water and sugar and rinse the tubing and bottle very thoroughly.
Warning
Never use honey, artificial sweetener, food coloring or raw sugar in your feeder. All of these items contain chemicals that may harm hummingbirds. Use white sugar only.
