Humming bird nectar

In the spring each year, we get pretty excited to see the birds come back after winter. One of our favorites is the hummingbird. They are so amazing. If you don't know much about hummingbirds, I encourage you to look them up.

We have had a feeder for years. When we bought it new, I remember it came with a packet of "nectar" that you just added water to. It turned this pretty red color, and it seemed that the birds really enjoyed it. For a very long time, I thought it was a "special" food especially for hummingbirds; I had no idea it was just granulated sugar and food color.

With all the information we now have about red food dye and the potential for it to have some negative effects on people, it's probably not a good thing to feed it to birds.

The recipe is very simple: 4 parts water to 1 part sugar.

We are fortunate and have well water, so I don't need to boil it before feeding it to the birds. I use warm tap water, add the sugar to it, and then whisk it until the sugar is dissolved.

If you have treated water, like in the city, you may want to consider boiling the water first, then adding the sugar.

Make sure the syrup is cool before you put it in the feeder. If you have extra syrup, you can store it in the fridge for a week or two.

If you are new to using a hummingbird feeder, keep an eye on it after you fill it; they tend to get moldy fairly quickly.

If your nectar starts to get cloudy, get rid of it, wash your feeder, and fill it with fresh nectar. You don't want to make the birds sick with spoiled nectar.