Slippery Conditions

• Ants access the feeder by climbing up the pole that the feeder is suspended from and climbing down the wire or string. If you make that string slippery, ants will have a much harder time reaching their final goal. Dampen a paper towel with cooking oil and wipe it all over the wire or string. Cooking lard or shortening can also do the trick. Reapply your chosen lubricant every few days to keep ants out.
  
  

Create a Mote

• Since ants don't do well in water, creating a mote can drown ants before they can get to the feeder. Motes for hummingbird feeders are sold at most home improvement stores. The other option is to make your own. Poke a small hole in the bottom of a deep plastic cap, like the ones used on cans of cooking spray. Remove the feeder from where it is hanging so that you can slide the cap down the string over the feeder. Use hot glue to fill in the hole and lock it in place. When the glue dries, hang the feeder back up and fill the homemade mote with water.
  
  

Set Out Bait

• Sprinkle cornmeal or dry grits on the ground around the feeder to distract ants before they think about climbing up to the feeder. Ants have a difficult time digesting these foods as they expand with water. So when ants consume them or bring them back to their nest to feed the others, it will kill off more than a few of them, decreasing your ant population.
  
  

Keep Them Away

• Fill a spray bottle with soapy water and spray ants when you find them to kill them quickly. Avoid using pesticides, as these can potentially be unsafe for the hummingbirds. Change the liquid in the feeder at least twice weekly to keep it fresh, as old, stagnant hummingbird feeder water attracts bugs, not hummingbirds.