Hummingbird Feeder Ant Moat with Solidworks 2014 Source.

thingiverse

I was fed up with those pesky ants this year, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I stepped outside to investigate why my hummingbirds had gone AWOL for two days, and I just so happened to have refilled their feeder recently, when I noticed something utterly disgusting - a dead ant floating in the sweet liquid goodness! I peered closer and that's when I spotted it - an army of ants marching along the rim towards their comrade. When I snatched the offender and flipped it over, a horde of thirty deceased ants went floating to the surface, while another twenty or so ants were trapped in the inner compartment. With a mission now underway, I dashed into my house, grabbed a trusty thirteen gauge wire hanger, and fashioned this nifty solution. The hole is 2.1mm, so feel free to use anything you want - just be sure it doesn't corrode over time. You can download the original .prt file for reference: Hummingbird_Feeder_Ant_Moat-2.sldprt (it's centered and hollow, for your viewing pleasure). The accompanying STL model of Hummingbird_Feeder_Ant_Moat.sldprt awaits your digital gaze. To give you a speed boost, I've included a reduced size model with source files - perfect for whipping up the print in record time! Mount this baby on top of your feeder so it looks like this: moat->mount->feeder. Then, simply fill 'er up with some water - not too much, mind you, as we're trying to conserve this precious resource. Leave a 2mm gap between the water level and the lip in case those persistent ants try to find an alternate route (and believe me, they will!). Moat is for filling water and has the feeder placed above. Place your moat onto your feeder, fill with little water so not overflowing as the purpose was created just conserve less amount but remember there should be space from filling too high that might block it completely and can form an obstacle path to cross through this tiny pool, even they have sacrificed one of their soldiers to do so