[NatureNS] Regarding Hummingbird Sugar Water

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Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 06:21:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gayle MacLean <duartess2003@yahoo.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Thank you Phil,
=A0
That's very interesting and thank you very much=A0for the explanation of th=
e science behind it and in describing your experience with the butterflies =
and hummingbirds.
=A0
Much appreciated!
=A0
Gayle MacLean
Dartmouth

--- On Sat, 4/17/10, Phil Schappert <philjs@eastlink.ca> wrote:


From: Phil Schappert <philjs@eastlink.ca>
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Regarding Hummingbird Sugar Water
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Received: Saturday, April 17, 2010, 9:09 AM


At 5:13 AM -0700 4/17/10, Gayle MacLean wrote:
> My friend in East Chezzetcook who always has lots of hummingbirds visitin=
g every year said that she always has put a drop of grapefruit seed extract=
 into each batch of hummingbird sugar water that she makes. She states it i=
s a natural preservative, an anti-bacterial and is anti-fungal. She also sa=
ys that it allows it to stay fresher longer. She also puts some in the wate=
r of her African Grey Parrot too, to keep the 'nasty's' away. Anyway, she h=
as been doing this for years and says she hasn't lost a hummer yet.
> I've never read anywhere where this additive is suggested.
> Has anyone ever heard of this or does anyone else suggest this?

It's likely that this works, Gayle, by lowering the pH of the sugar water, =
likely by adding acetic acid in this case, from the seed extract. Not knowi=
ng the constitution of the extract, I can't be definitive but I used to do =
something similar for artificial nectar for rearing butterflies for researc=
h and also used a similar recipe to preserve sugar water for hummingbird fe=
eders while I was in the strong sun and high heat of central Texas.

Basically, I added very small amounts of three naturally-occurring organic =
acids (ascorbic, sorbic and benzoic -- ascorbic is vitamin C, and sorbic an=
d benzoic are from rowan (or mountain ash) berries and the bark of snowbell=
 or spicebush-type trees/shrubs, respectively) to a mixture of sugar/honey,=
 three kinds of salts and casein (basically skim milk powder, a source of a=
mino acids) to lower the pH of the nectar below that which bacteria and fun=
gi can tolerate. The acidic pH didn't bother the butterflies at all and did=
n't bother the hummingbirds when I included just the ascorbic and benzoic a=
cids to just sugar and water to make the sugar water last longer than a day=
 or two in the Texas heat.

Phil

--=20
Phil Schappert, PhD

27 Clovis Ave.
Halifax, NS, B3P 1J3
902-404-5679 (home)
902-460-8343 (cell)

www.myspace.com/philschappert
www.philschappert.com
www.aworldforbutterflies.com

"Just let imagination lead, reality will follow through..."
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0=
=A0=A0(Michael Hedges)
=0A=0A__________________________________________________=0ADo You Yahoo!?=
=0ATired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around =0Ahttp:=
//mail.yahoo.com 
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<table cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0" border=3D"0" ><tr><td valign=3D"=
top" style=3D"font: inherit;"><DIV>Thank you Phil,</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>That's very interesting and thank you very much&nbsp;for the explanati=
on of the science behind it and in describing your experience with the butt=
erflies and hummingbirds.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Much appreciated!</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Gayle MacLean</DIV>
<DIV>Dartmouth<BR><BR>--- On <B>Sat, 4/17/10, Phil Schappert <I>&lt;philjs@=
eastlink.ca&gt;</I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(=
16,16,255) 2px solid"><BR>From: Phil Schappert &lt;philjs@eastlink.ca&gt;<B=
R>Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Regarding Hummingbird Sugar Water<BR>To: naturens=
@chebucto.ns.ca<BR>Received: Saturday, April 17, 2010, 9:09 AM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=3DplainMail>At 5:13 AM -0700 4/17/10, Gayle MacLean wrote:<BR>&g=
t; My friend in East Chezzetcook who always has lots of hummingbirds visiti=
ng every year said that she always has put a drop of grapefruit seed extrac=
t into each batch of hummingbird sugar water that she makes. She states it =
is a natural preservative, an anti-bacterial and is anti-fungal. She also s=
ays that it allows it to stay fresher longer. She also puts some in the wat=
er of her African Grey Parrot too, to keep the 'nasty's' away. Anyway, she =
has been doing this for years and says she hasn't lost a hummer yet.<BR>&gt=
; I've never read anywhere where this additive is suggested.<BR>&gt; Has an=
yone ever heard of this or does anyone else suggest this?<BR><BR>It's likel=
y that this works, Gayle, by lowering the pH of the sugar water, likely by =
adding acetic acid in this case, from the seed extract. Not knowing the con=
stitution of the extract, I can't be definitive but I used to do
 something similar for artificial nectar for rearing butterflies for resear=
ch and also used a similar recipe to preserve sugar water for hummingbird f=
eeders while I was in the strong sun and high heat of central Texas.<BR><BR=
>Basically, I added very small amounts of three naturally-occurring organic=
 acids (ascorbic, sorbic and benzoic -- ascorbic is vitamin C, and sorbic a=
nd benzoic are from rowan (or mountain ash) berries and the bark of snowbel=
l or spicebush-type trees/shrubs, respectively) to a mixture of sugar/honey=
, three kinds of salts and casein (basically skim milk powder, a source of =
amino acids) to lower the pH of the nectar below that which bacteria and fu=
ngi can tolerate. The acidic pH didn't bother the butterflies at all and di=
dn't bother the hummingbirds when I included just the ascorbic and benzoic =
acids to just sugar and water to make the sugar water last longer than a da=
y or two in the Texas heat.<BR><BR>Phil<BR><BR>-- <BR>Phil
 Schappert, PhD<BR><BR>27 Clovis Ave.<BR>Halifax, NS, B3P 1J3<BR>902-404-56=
79 (home)<BR>902-460-8343 (cell)<BR><BR>www.myspace.com/philschappert<BR>ww=
w.philschappert.com<BR>www.aworldforbutterflies.com<BR><BR>"Just let imagin=
ation lead, reality will follow through..."<BR>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; =
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp=
; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(Michael Hedges)<BR></DIV></BLOCKQ=
UOTE></td></tr></table><br>________________________________________________=
__<br>Do You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam prote=
ction around <br>http://mail.yahoo.