Ants attacking cherries

[TrixC]

I have ants attacking my cherries. They are targeting the ripest fruit and drilling tiny holes in them, presumably to eat the sugar. The fruit then rots.

Is there anything I can do to stop them? I've already tried smearing vaseline around the trunk, which didn't work at all, the ants simply walked through it.

I don't think they're being attracted by aphids, there is minimal aphid activity on the tree.

[burnie]

Can you pick them? The cherries that is not the Ants

[TrixC]

Can you pick them? The cherries that is not the Ants

I've picked some of them, but I would ideally like them to ripen a bit more. The variety is Sunburst which is meant to be a fairly late one.

[ameno]

You need something stronger than vaseline.
Get one of those glue bands that you can buy to stop winter moth crawling up trees. Be sure to secure it tightly, or they could crawl underneath.
Or if you're cheap, wrapping the trunk in sticky fly paper should have much the same affect, but for less money.

[Plot70]

I have stopped ants with anti climb paint in the past.
The better option is to locate the nest and pump it full of crawling insect killer spray.
Aldi sometimes stock one that works in two applications over two or three days.