Some 85,000 others seek medical treatment for allergic reactions and at least 50 of them die, according to the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology. A birdhouse containing a wasp nest not only keeps birds away, it presents a danger to the unsuspecting backyard birder who opens the birdhouse in the hope of seeing a bird nest or to clean it at the end of the season. Wasps, hornets and bees are often attracted to hummingbird and oriole feeders that contain sugar water and sometimes to suet feeders. Hummingbirds are easily intimidated by the presence of the belligerent wasps or bees and back off without feeding. The danger to people occurs when the insects are disturbed, as when the feeders are taken down for refilling.
Ants are also a problem at hummingbird and oriole feeders, drawn to the sweet liquid.
Feeders covered with ants are often unacceptable to the birds that are meant to feed from them. War Stories I was taking down the hummingbird feeder to replenish the sugar water when wasps attacked me, reported Alice Jefferson in San Jose, California. I was stung three times on my hand before I dropped the feeder and ran into the house, she said. I immediately put ice cubes on the stings, but by that time my hand was already greatly swollen and discolored. He was rushed to a hospital in nearby Front Royal for treatment of an allergic reaction to insect venom.