If you have ants raiding your hummingbird feeder, this simple DIY moat will prevent them from ever reaching the sugar water. I’ve been using mine for a while now, and it completely solved the problem.
There is also a recipe for making hummingbird food here and a fun quiz for testing your hummer knowledge here.
How Hummingbird Feeder Moats Work
NEW! Click play to listen:
Ants can be very disruptive at hummingbird feeders. Attracted to the sugar water, they climb all the way up and around the shepherd’s hooks, and down onto the feeder. Once at the feeder, they descend into the sugar water to feast or drown.
As much as hummingbirds like to eat both ants and nectar, they do not like the two combined, and they will stop feeding if the ant invasion is too much.
The idea with the moat is: a cup of water is hung from the shepherd’s hook, and the actual feeder is suspended below it.
Now, when the ants come marching, the moat is the first thing they encounter on their way to the feeder.
With nowhere to go but down the middle eye hook, they either drown in the cup of water or give up and walk all the way back to the ground.
Meanwhile, the hummingbird feeder remains ant-free.
You can use these moats on any hanging nectar feeder including ones used for orioles.
The least expensive hummingbird feeder moats on Amazon retail for around $9. The supplies for mine cost a few dollars. It’s not a huge savings but perhaps worth making one, especially if you already have the supplies on hand and need a few of them.
The whole project takes just minutes to make.
Related: Hummingbird Migration Map | Where are they now?
How to Make a Hummingbird Feeder Moat
Video Instructions
Supplies & Tools
- (2) Eye hooks: 3/16-inch diameter, 4-inches long.
- (2) 3/16-inch nuts
- (2) 3/16-inch washers
- (1) 3/16-inch coupling nut (to join the eye hooks)
- (1) plastic cup, kiddie bowl, or lid from spray paint can
- Silicone Sealant (outdoor, waterproof) or Plumber’s Puddy or similar waterproof product
- Electric drill and 3/16-inch drill bit
- Small wrench to tighten nuts
Notes: I used 3/16-inch materials. You can use any size from 1/8 to 5/16-inch: just make sure everything including the drill bit are the same diameter.
You could use J hooks instead of eye hooks. I choose eye hooks because the squirrels and chipmunks have a harder time knocking them off.
Assembly
1. Drill a hole in the middle of the plastic cup. Use a drill bit the same diameter as the eye hooks.
2. Place the nut on the lower eye hook as close to the eye as it can go. Add the washer.
3. Add a dab of Silicone Sealant to the underside of the cup where the washer will touch.
4. Add a dab of Silicone Sealant inside the cup around the hole where the second washer will rest.
5. Thread the lower eye hook up through the cup. The lower nut and washer will press against the cup (but don’t snap the plastic!).
6. Place the second washer down the eye hook to the bottom (inside) of the cup. Then add the second nut and tighten. You may need to use a wrench -gently.
7. Attach the coupling nut to the lower eye hook, with half the nut still available.
8. Insert the top eye hook into the coupling nut.
Allow Silicone Sealant to dry (most take 2 hours). Then hang moat from shepherd’s hook and hang hummingbird feeder from moat. And say good-bye to the ants.
Related: How to Make a Hummingbird Feeder from Mason Jars
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
How to Make a Hummingbird Moat
Supplies & Materials
- 2 Eye hooks 3/16-inch diameter, 4-inches long
- 2 3/16-inch nuts
- 2 3/16-inch washers
- 1 3/16-inch coupling nut to join the eye hooks
- 1 Plastic cup 3-inch diameter
Equipment
Instructions
- Watch the video for visual instructions. Drill a hole in the middle of the plastic cup. Use a drill bit the same diameter as the eye hooks.
- Place the nut on the lower eye hook as close to the eye as it can go. Add the washer.
- Add a dab of Silicone Sealant to the underside of the cup where the washer will touch.
- Add a dab of Silicone Sealant inside the cup around the hole where the second washer will rest.
- Thread the lower eye hook up through the cup. The lower nut and washer will press against the cup (but don’t snap the plastic!).
- Place the second washer down the eye hook to the bottom (inside) of the cup. Then add the second nut and tighten. You may need to use a wrench -gently.
- Attach the coupling nut to the lower eye hook, with half the nut still available.
- Insert the top eye hook into the coupling nut.
- Allow Silicone Sealant to dry (most take 2 hours). Then hang moat from shepherd’s hook and hang hummingbird feeder from moat. And say good-bye to the ants.
Wendi says
Will this work for earwigs?
Melissa J. Will says
I think it should since, to my knowledge, earwigs do not swim. The moat should stop any insect that has to walk to get to the feeder and will not enter water.
Melissa J. Will says
If you want to keep ants off a hummingbird feeder, this absolutely works.