Aphid Poo is a Taste Treat

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What’s crème bouche?

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…and it kept the Israelites going for forty years . (Well, maybe).

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That’s really interesting. I wanted to know more and found this site http://www.honeytraveler.com/types-of-honey/honeydew-forest-honey. The comments especially are informative–apparently eating honeydew honey is somewhat of an eastern-European tradition.

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But what supposed health benefits does this have?

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I was wondering if some one could hook me up with some True Black Meat…

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Ants know all about honeydew. They’re pros!
Some ants “herd” aphids (and other scale insects) like tiny farmers.

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We have trees over the parking lot here at work that shed what we thought for many years was sap. “Gee, that misty sap is all over my windshield. What a mess!”

Last year I got to reveal that it was “honey dew,” and what honey dew was.

People started parking under the evergreens after that.

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and that’s the problem I have in my back yard: aphids and scales sucking sap and making honey dew in my trees.

Thousands of ants protect the aphids and scales from natural predators (which would otherwise keep their numbers to a non-damaging size) and then carry the honey dew down to feed the colonies. It’s to the point that almost all the leaves on one tree had died off.

(Fixed the problem with tanglefoot).

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Good call on the tanglefoot!

My aunt had the same problem when she decided to try out artichokes for the first time. The aphids attracted ants, and so on…

Fortunately (most of the year) ants don’t fly. So, for crawlers, a good barrier at the base really does change things! Without ant protection, natural predators like spiders and lady beetles can get to aphids, and that keep colonies under control.

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I remember seeing something on TV about ants that herded their aphids up the tree in the morning to graze them and then herded them back down to the underground nest at night to protect them from predators. Emergent behaviour is fantastic! :smiley:

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I had always known that the stuff existed, but until a few years ago I had never really paid attention to it. Then I bought it on a whim and was converted instantly. How could I miss the tasty kind of honey all my life?

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