[Greendream]

I had two beds covered in black plastic sheeting to prevent weeds getting to them before I was ready to use them.....today, to my horror I uncovered them to find 2 huge areas in one bed and one in the other that was full of ants! 
That wasnt bad enough...I began to notice that in the very fine soil the ants had created, there were loads of what looked like larva, orangey coloured and about a cm long. the ants in one bed were all orange ones and in the other some were black and some were orange. Urghhh!   
My old neighbour who is a fountain of knowledge said to spray with antkiller asap, which I did, but they didnt seem to be dying quickly and now I am panicking about that larvea...hope its not aphids ready to eat all my beans that are on each side of the bed!!!!

Anyone else had this problem? What is it? What caused it and how do I deal with it???

All advice taken.....

[slowcompost]

generally not a problem if its ants, they don,t do much harm to growing plants.

[pumpkinpatch]

I havent had this problem exactly but found the ants have made a home by my raspberry canes and turnips
im wondering if its ok to use ant killer by my veggies or will it harm them  
also they did harm to my turnips last year and i dont want them to suffer the same fait
cheers
PP. 

[Yorkie]

I would personally avoid using antkiller near crops as you don't know whether it will be absorbed either directly by plants, or indirectly through the soil and subsequent take-up.

[willowman]

Just a comment, no help really, but I hate ants with a vengence, but at the same time I respect them. I believe they will still be here on earth long after we have blown ourselves to smithereens.
I read somewhere that ants and humans are the only two species on earth that wage war against their fellow creatures.

[Swing Swang]

I really don't think that it's necessary to get too stressed about ants - they do 'heard' aphids but other than that they seem to do quite a lot for my soil, and little other harm in the garden. When I uncovered the land that I'd kept under light-excluding mulch for a year I'm convinced that the mumerous ant nests had improved the drainage and had contributed to producing a decent 'tilth'. Regarding the larvae - the birds love them, although the ants do bury them again fairly quickly, however a quick 'forking' brings them to the surface again, and after a couple of weeks the ant population is much reduced. Pain in the neck (or the groin!) on the lawn when you want to sit on it in shorts mind you...

SS

[Apostrophes]

I often stumble across ants nests on my plot. I found that once unearthed they tend to move on within a couple of days.

[viettaclark]

Ants cause huge bald patches in my lawn.........

[Greendream]

Thanks for your replies! Put my mind at ease!!!! 

I somehow got it in my head that there was gonna be millions of aphids eating everything in sight because of the ants!!!! Doh!
They have made the sol beautiful and fine which is a bonus! 

[woodburner]

If aphids do become a problem, and you haven't eradicated the ants, you could try Bob Flowerdews idea, of feeding the ants sweet stuff by dabbing it on the affected plants. The ants will lose interest in farming the aphids for the honeydew, and eat them for the protein instead!