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[T Phillips <canineaficionado@yahoo.com>]

I have a colony of small red ants making a new home in the rocks that form the bed of a 6' Honeycrisp planted last year. Should I evict them now or wait for bad behavior? Last year, we erected a Frankenstein hoop house close to one side of a Stella cherry. The impaired air movement made for a nice place for mites and aphids, and the ants had a field day. Don't want to repeat that experience. I'd prefer to not kill them- I don't know if they are doing something good in general that I can't see (nature's garbagemen?).  DE is all I would ever use for 'control'.. They refused to put down a security deposit, so they really have no leg to stand on. All opinions welcome.