I'm sorry, Lynda. Actually mine are back and having territorial wars! Being a horse farm, we have many indoor and outdoor cats (and no mice!) but "my" hummers are not bothered by them. So glad to see them again!

Kitsie I thought maybe your hummers had come over to visit me! I've had quite a few of them fighting over my feeder, so I ended up adding another feeder in the back.

I've discovered one of the easiest ways to deter ants: My hummer feeders hang on wrought-iron shepherd hooks. I spray WD-40 all around the base of the hook, right on the iron, from the ground up to 8" or so. No more ants.

This happened a couple of days ago, I was highly entertained.

Male hummer was in the tree on right side of the yard, the feeder is on the left. Female swoops in, hovers right in front of his nose, then zooms over to the feeder. Can't have that! He races over to the feeder and chases her off, scolding. Back up into the tree he goes. Yak, yak, yak. She swoops in again, hovers right in front of him, then over to the feeder. He chases her off again. More yakking and scolding. She swoops in again, waves her fanny in his face, then zooms over to the feeder. He chases her off and this time, as he's yakking and complaining and scolding his way back to his perch in the tree, I see her turn around right behind him and plant herself on the far side of the feeder, so it's between her and him. He has no idea she's there. He may have the brawn, but she's got the brains!

Peggi, that's so funny! Can just see it in my mind! One of mine was actually gently tapping at my window because there is a blooming Easter cactus there. I will move it before she gets a bent beak! I only need an ant baffle on one of them and bees don't bother because I have the little feeders with the yellow cages on them.

Yep, the brains/brawn thing works for most living beings! Hey, where do you live? I'm in Ridgefield above Vancouver.

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Kitsie, maybe the hummer was flying into your window in hopes that you'd fix the food! That happens to my MIL, when her feeders are empty the hummers buzz her kitchen window. When she comes out with refilled feeders, they don't even wait for her to hang them.

I live just south of you in Salmon Creek!

You can get replacement bee guards here
http://www.birdfeeders.com/store/parts
as well as any other parts you might need.

Thanks, Donna. I use the small 4 oz tube feeders that come with them and usually they are pretty cheap at the feed store. That is the brand I like, too.

Here's a cute video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU_pJ8PAWwQ

Thank you, thank you sooo much! Wonderful photography! Sure answered a lot of questions, too!