How to make a butterfly feeder

As a celebration of Colchester Zoo’s brand new ‘Butterfly Glade’ we’re giving you a step by step guide to making your own butterfly feeder! Not only will it help attract new wildlife into your garden but it is also a great way to recycle old fruit!

What you will need: 

• A plastic lid from an ice cream container.
• String
• Overripe/old fruit.
• Fruit juice
• Scissors

Adult supervision is required throughout this task.

When to make it: 
Spring/Summer months.

Time:
Approximately 30 minutes to make.

Step 1

Make sure an adult is helping throughout this step. Carefully make a hole in each of the four corners of the ice cream lid. 

Step 2 

Thread string through each hole and tie securely. Remember to leave each piece of string long as this will be used to hang your feeder from a tree. You can decorate the strings with bright coloured beads or flowers to make your feeder even more attractive to butterflies.

Step 3

Hang your feeder from a tree branch, securely tying each of the strings, it is best to hang your feeder before adding the fruit to avoid making a mess!

Step 4 

Add your fruit! Slice any old fruit you haven’t eaten and add to the feeder- sweet mushy fruit is a butterfly's favourite so try melon, oranges or bananas. You can also add fruit juice to stop fruit drying out and create sticky nectar! 

Watch out over the coming weeks and months as more and more butterflies emerge and see what species come to eat at your feeder! Pay attention to which fruits are more popular so you know what to put out when the time comes to re-filling your feeder!