A couple of days ago, I asked for help regarding deterring hornets from a hummingbird feeder. A friend posted a possible solution on my Facebook page. (Have you “liked” it yet? You should, you know. We have fun conversations!) I had a chance to try it out Monday afternoon.
Success! (I think.)
Here’s what I did:
3 drops each Clove, Cinnamon, Lemongrass & Lemon essential oils in one dram of fractionated coconut oil as a base. You don’t have to use coconut; just one that has little-to-no scent of its own. I just happen to have a lot of the fractionated coconut around.
NB: This is strong and not to be used on skin! It could probably be lighter but I wanted to ensure it smelled so gross to the apian-types they’d make a U-turn. (If you have any sensitivity to EOs, please use a cotton swab for application rather than your finger.)
Following what Laura did, I smeared it on the bottom & top of the feeder. Less than five minutes later, one of the huge hornets just made himself at home. So, I smeared it all over the base, taking care to avoid the holes the hummers use & their perches. Then I came back in and stared out the front window at the feeder.
A couple of minutes after that, the hummingbirds happily gurgled their sugar water down. So far, so good. The birds don’t mind it. One small bee (probably a honeybee) came within five feet and made the hoped-for U-turn. One of the huge guys came back, did one turn around one of the feeder holes, stepped onto the smeared portion and left.
Then the sun went down and everyone went to sleep. I was out of the house most of yesterday and it rained, so I couldn’t tell if it was working. (Bees don’t like to fly on overcast days, much less in the rain – they use the sun for their sense of direction.)
But this afternoon, the sun is shining, the hummers are feeding (in between chasing each other away), I’ve been able to watch out the window for over an hour and I haven’t seen a single bee/hornet/wasp/nasty-apian-type anywhere near the house, much less the feeder.
Thank you, Laura!