Keeping The Ant-Mote™ Sparkling Clean

Update to an earlier post
Many people have asked us, “What is the best way to clean a pole-mounted Ant-Mote?”. 

Here is what we do to keep ours looking clean and sparkling.

First, we try to change the water in our ant moat every day to keep it fresh and eliminate any possibility of mosquito breeding. The Ant-Mote™is designed to hold enough water to last two days in summer heat, so it is important to be mindful of water quality, especially throughout the summer and wetter months. However, the beauty of The Ant-Mote™ is that it does not require removal every time you refill. Just keep it in place and tilt the rim slightly to dump out the old water, then refill it with fresh, clean water, letting the water run over the sides until any remaining old water has been replaced. This method can go on for a while when the weather is cool, but as the temperatures get hotter and the humidity rises, other measures may be required.

If you go away for an extended time and you may come back to a pole-mounted Ant-Mote that looks like this: 

While rare, if this happens, don’t worry. Remove the feeder first, then apply upward pressure below the center of the Ant-Mote to loosen the seal with the bushing. Then, slide The Ant-Mote™up and off the pole. Head to a sink or grab a hose. We use a sink because we have our cleaning tools for the feeder there as well. Sometimes all we need is a sponge, but a soft toothbrush works well too. No special cleaning product is required.

Cleaning The Ant-Mote™ and your hummingbird nectar feeder.

We prefer to clean our ant moat and feeder in the sink so we can use warm water, a little bit of soap, and a soft bristle brush. However, using a hose outside will also work just fine.

Nice and clean, ready to be put back outside.