Cleaning Hummingbird Feeders

Just returned from a 10-day trip and one of my HB feeders has an awful lot of mold inside. What is the best way to clean it? I'm scared to use bleach.

Water and 10% Bleach.

-Let it soak for a while

- SCRUB all Parts Thoroughly!

-RINSE RINSE RINSE RINSE

Any remaining tiny parts of bleach remaining the sugar water will take care of.

Very helpful info. Thank you Pelle. Our little feathered friends deserve the best of care!

Thanks, pelle. I knew bleach would kill the mold, I was just scared of the residue.

More on cleaning:

You ladies out there save your mascara brushes & WASH REALLY WELL. Also, guys, ask you wives or girlfriends to save theirs.

They are absolutely great for cleaning the tiny feeding ports on just about any type of Hummingbird feeder! You can waste good money buying specialized brushes to do the same thing.

I'm sure this tip has been in Dave's Garden before, probably more than once, but it never hurts to mention a great idea again.

Good tip! Thanks nuts!

Hi again,

I just thought of something I forgot to mention earlier about mascara brushes. The "traditional-types" work very well. They can be thicker or thinner styles & still do just fine, however, there are now assorted mascara brushes out there that are so unusual they don't even resemble the mascara brushes most of us are used to. Some of these probably won't work.

If you are hooked on one of these types, no problem! Talk your friends into saving theirs & washing them before they give them to you!!

I had mold inside the glass feeder that I couldnt reach with a brush...I tried several differentt ways to get it out.but no go... then I remembered how we used to clean the coffee pots when I was a waitress.. I took some Kosher salt and poured a bit into the feeder, added a few drops of water and then shook the crap out of it.. boom!! mold gone.. rinsed it well and I was ready to refill

Electric razors sometimes come with a tiny little bottle brush.

As the mother of a two year old, think bottle brush. Many bottle brushes come with a "nipple brush" which is smaller and can be bent into various shapes. The nipple brush can be used to clean inaccessible parts of the hummer feeder. Good luck.

Good tips blkraven,pollen and gazer!

Those are all great cleaning tips! I have been cleaning the ports with an old proxy brush that I use to clean between my teeth..it works really great. I am really obsessive about no mold since it is so harmful to the little ones. I read that they can often recover from a beak injury but mold is the culprit in keeping them from healing.

I am learning from all these cleaning tips...thanks everyone!