Sugar Is Safe For Hummingbirds

I learned something new today. As I gazed out my kitchen window watching two hummingbirds chase each other for the feeder, I suddenly wondered if the sugar solution I was making for them was actually safe. Often times animal lovers think they are doing something nice for wildlife and it can actually wind up harming them. I try not to do that so I hopped onto the handy dandy internet. I was delighted to learn that table sugar is perfectly safe for hummingsbids, but appalled to learn that the red dye that I have been using to attract them was not. I also learned that the general accepted ratio seems to be 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. There was some debate on whether or not to boil the water first...personally I vote for boiling because it certainly can't hurt. You can never tells what lives in your water these days.

Now time to go outside, get my hummingbird feeder and make a fresh batch of dye free solution.
Below I have attached a couple of the really good websites I looked at.
http://www.hummingbirds.net/feeders.html
http://www.asheville.wbu.com/content/show/11866