Ants on hummingbird feeders

We live in a swampy area and we have a lot of ants. I cant keep them off my feeders. any sugestions on what to do about that. Have tried to get rid of ants here but it is impossible. I know you can put pam on the feeders for the wasp but dont think that will deter the ants. Any suggestions would help

Sami

Ant leave a trail for other ants to follow. You need to interupt the trail, or stop them from making one in the first place.
They don't like to cross petroleum jelly
They do like rough surfaces that are easy to climb - maybe hang your feeder from a clothes line or smooth post instead of a tree.
Some feeders come with an "ant moat" that you fill with water? oil? I haven't actually used one. My feeders are hanging from hooks under the eaves so they are hard for the ants to find. If they do find one, I move it.
It also helps a lot if the feeder doesn't leak and drip.

My Hummingbird feeders are on Shepherd's hooks.
For the feeders that don't have ant moats I rub a little Tree Tanglefoot on the post (on an area about 1" to 2" wide) about mid-way up so birds and critters don't get the sticky on them. (You can also put something around the sticky part, like the top few inches of a water bottle, to give the hummers extra protection from the sticky goo. Just remember, if you do, make sure the bottom part doesn't tilt and touch the post or the ants will crawl right by the sticky part).

Because I'd rather not rub it directly on the post, I usually wrap a piece of black electrical tape on the post and put the Tree Tanglefoot on it.

Tree Tanglefoot is a product sold at most nurseries. The main purpose is to keep destructve crawling insects off fruit trees, but it has many other uses. For instance, if you rub some on pieces of bright yellow wood or other material (I cut up bright yellow plastic picnic plates) it attracts aphids and white flies that stick to it.

I have a tube that I've had for over 10 years! It doesn't go bad, lasts forever and is totally non-toxic (Castor Oil, Gum Resins, Vegetable Wax). It's Super Sticky so apply it with a popsicle stick or other disposable applicator and you might want to wear disposable gloves or food bags (or?) as it's hard to wash off your hands.

It generally lasts most of a season unless it gets coated with pollens, etc. The ants will avoid it and rain doesn't affect it.

Thanks everyone I will try some of your ideas. I have some petroleum jelly on hand and will try that first until I can get to the store for the tree tanglefoot.

Sami

I put some of the petroleum jelly on the string that I have the humming bird feeders hanging on and it stopped the ants from crawling down the string. Thanks so much for the info

sami