BEE FEEDER

I was standing by the kitchen sink pouring the nectar that had just cooled into my hummingbird feeders when my son Alex came into the room.

The feeder in the sun had several bees landing on it. “Now the hummingbirds don’t have to fight the bees to get to the nectar.” I looked over at Alex and smiled. “I love being able to help them out like that.”

“I guess the hummingbirds will be leaving soon?” He asked as he took a glass from the cabinet.

“That’s why I’ve changed the sugar to water ratio in the nectar.” I was screwing the perch onto the glass bottle.

“What do you usually do?”

Taking the feeders out of the sink I placed them on the counter so Alex could fill his glass with water.

“All summer I do one cup of sugar and four cups of water. But now that they’re getting ready for their long flight down south I do one cup of sugar to three cups of water.” I picked up the two feeders. “Can you get the back door for me?” I asked as I headed in that direction.

Alex followed me onto the porch as I hung one on the side of the porch that was in the shade. “Okay, some nice fresh nectar!” I called to the hummingbirds. Then walked over to the other side of the porch where I hung the other one in the sun. “And this one’s for the rest of you!” I called.

“The rest of who?” Alex asked as he followed me back into the house.

I walked over to the sink to wash the sticky nectar that had gotten on my hands. “You’ll see.” I pointed out the kitchen window.

“Wow! That didn’t take long.” I rinsed my hands and grabbed a towel to dry them.

A hummingbird was already perched on the feeder taking long drinks before looking around to see if anyone else was coming before going for another long drink.

“I swear I think they sit out in the woods and watch me fill them!” I laughed. “Look at how hungry he is!”

Alex nodded before asking. “So who’s the other feeder for?”

I pointed out the window. “They’re right on time too!”

Alex looked confused. “The bees don’t go to the other feeder?”

“Nope. Not so far.” I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. “I guess they like the one in the sun more.”

“Yeah, but the bee feeder is closer to our back door.” Alex pointed out.

“I’m sorry.” I looked over at him and raised my eyebrows. “But do you need to stock up on extra calories for your long flight south?”

“No.” Alex sighed. “I’m just the guy who’d like to sit on the back porch without a swarm of bees around me.”

“Well then that’s good news for you!” I said as I patted his shoulder and pointed to the feeder. “Because the bees are all over the feeder so they won’t have any reason to go by you.”

Alex sighed again. “I guess I’ll be finding that out soon enough.”