Bees on the Hummingbird Feeders

so lucky

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Just have a few straggler hummers coming through now, but the honey bees and some kind of small bumble bee are really feeding heavily at the feeders.
I have never seen this to this extent before; normally just wasps and yellow jackets bother the feeders.
So I'm wondering what the reason is. Maybe because there are fewer wild flowers still blooming due to the near draught? Maybe record high temps are preventing the bees from hibernating as usual this year.
Beeks on the forum, what is your opinion? I know some beeks feed their bees sugar water to help them out in lean times or sudden heat waves in the winter....
There have been more honey bees in the garden and lawn this year than I have seen in several years. I sure want to help them survive if possible.
 

Ridgerunner

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I haven't seen any hummers for two or three weeks so I'm about ready to take it down. I haven't seen anything else at it either, not even the normal wasps.

I'm not a beekeeper but if they were feeding on mine I'd let them. I don't see how it can hurt them and it should help. Isn't @Carol Dee one of our beekeepers?
 

Carol Dee

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Hello @so lucky and @Ridgerunner YES, let the bees feed. You might even want to bump the mixture up to 50/50 !!! They are indeed adding to the honey store for their winter supply. They can use all the help they can get. THANKS
 

thistlebloom

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My neighbor keeps bees and he said around here beeks have been giving their bees supplemental feedings since August. With our prolonged heat and dry spell this summer the flowers didn't have a lot of nectar.
 

w_r_ranch

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I have never seen this to this extent before; normally just wasps and yellow jackets bother the feeders.

So I'm wondering what the reason is. Maybe because there are fewer wild flowers still blooming due to the near draught?

We saw the same here 3 or 4 yrs ago during our prolonged drought. They would form chains a couple of feet long hanging from the feeders & it was spooky sitting on the back porch with 10 feeders all around us...

As others have mentioned, put out additional pans/shallow bowls of sugar water (which is what we did).
 

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