A DIY Ant Moat That'll Help Keep Bugs Out Of Your Hummingbird Feeder

A nice homemade sugar nectar in a hummingbird feeder is sure to attract your tiny feathered friends, but there's another huge fan base waiting in the wings: ants. Sugar-loving ants mysteriously seem to know when there's something sweet nearby, and they'll go to great lengths — and heights — to reach it. The ants might even discover the nectar before the hummingbirds do, which is incredibly disappointing. They're the bane of just about any hummingbird feeder that doesn't have a built-in ant moat. As its name implies, an ant moat is a lot like the moat around a storybook castle. It's filled with water and designed to keep invaders away. Any ant that tries to get to the nectar ports on a hummingbird feeder will find themselves faced with a pool of water.

While you could purchase a manufactured ant moat to add to your hummingbird feeder, there's no need. You can easily make your own from a plastic beverage bottle, such as a single-serving water bottle or even a liter-sized sparkling water bottle. The DIY version is simple and effective, and it connects to any style of hanging hummingbird feeder. Besides the bottle and its cap, you'll need some sturdy metal wire or a bendable coat hanger, a utility knife, a drill, and a hot glue gun with its glue stick. 

To make the ant moat, remove the label from the bottle, then use a utility knife or scissors to cut off the top third or so of the bottle. Next, use wire cutters to snip off a piece of craft wire or coat-hanger wire about 10 inches long. Any straight piece of wire that's sturdy yet still easy to bend with pliers will work for the moat's hanger. 

Find a drill bit that's slightly narrower than the diameter of the wire, then drill through the center of the bottle's cap. Push the wire through the hole until there's an equal amount of wire on either side; it doesn't have to be exact, so there's no need to measure it. After you're done with all that, screw the cap onto the top of the bottle, make sure the wire is running through the cap, and then plug in the hot glue gun. Once that's ready to go, squire some glue inside of the bottle cap, filling it up. Hold the wire so it's perpendicular to the cap as the glue hardens. 

Next, bend a J-shaped hook into both ends of the wire. Then, hold it so it looks like an upside-down umbrella, with the bottle cap pointing down. Connect the bottom hook to the hanger that's on top of your hummingbird feeder, then hang the top hook from a shepherd's hook or another location within your lovely hummingbird haven. Fill the upturned bottle, aka your new ant moat, with water. The ants won't be able to reach the nectar as long as the moat stays full. Clean the hummingbird feeder regularly to attract more hummingbirds and help them stay fueled for their busy, buzz-worthy days.