after checking my runner beans on a regular basis for black fly I seem to find that when I find the black fly there also seems to be a lot of activity with the ants running up and down the stems,it has occured to me that the ants seem to be the main carriers of the fly,is there anyone else who may have seen this happening.

It is well-known that ants farm aphids. Wherever you find a large congregation of aphids, you can be sure that ants are behind it. If you can succeed in controlling or distracting the ants, that can often be a sufficient method of getting aphids under control. Later in the summer, you'll probably find that that the hoverflies and ladybirds eat the aphids faster than the ants can replace them.

"Billit" wrote in a message:

after checking my runner beans on a regular basis for black fly I seem
to find that when I find the black fly there also seems to be a lot of
activity with the ants running up and down the stems,it has occured to
me that the ants seem to be the main carriers of the fly,is there
anyone else who may have seen this happening.


Ants are attracted by the sweet honeydew produced by blackfly and greenfly.
Ants don't carry blackfly .

MD

Billit wrote:
after checking my runner beans on a regular basis for black fly I seem
to find that when I find the black fly there also seems to be a lot of
activity with the ants running up and down the stems,it has occured to
me that the ants seem to be the main carriers of the fly,is there
anyone else who may have seen this happening.




The ants farm the blackfly.
I find the best remedy is to grub out the blackfly between finger and
thumb,and also rub the grubby fingers over the unaffected stems.
This seems to deter the ants,and reduce infestations.
Sam.