Strange Brew by John Deering for July 24, 2021

IF you wish to feed hummies please use

1: A clean feeder. Because they can die from contaminants including fungus

2: That you (empty and) clean, thoroughly no less often than 7 to 10 days. Because (see #1)

3: That you fill with a mixture of 1 part of granular white sugar to 4 parts water. No flavors. No colors. Because they’re used to nectar and plain sugar water is as close as you can get.

4: That you keep replacing until the hummies leave for the season. Because if they’ve come to depend on it, it would be beyond mean to take it away.

They like the color red, so that’s why the feeder and the syrup are that color.

Red dye #2 got banned.

The color of the food doesn’t matter and the dyes can hurt the hummies.

I get my feeder liquid at wallyworld by Pennington. It has natural red coloring.

I make my own. One part sugar to four parts water. Bring the water to a boil, then add the sugar and stir until it’s dissolved. Then let it cool to room temp. No honey or artificial sweeteners.

The powers that be (In this case the game commission & Audubon) have asked us to put the bird feeders away. There’s a songbird die-off that was announced in W.Va. & Ohio and has now spread here to PA.

The last that I heard they still don’t know what’s causing it.

I took all feeders down because of the sickness going around America

picky, picky……

Our 2 sons were allergic to red dye as children. We found that out the hard way after a few birthday parties where red Kool-Aid was served!