Ants nest soil - good or bad?

[fran]

Hi everyone. Sorry not to have posted for months. Have been v. busy on the plot which I took over last May. Despite 10foot high brambles, couch grass etc have had spuds, leeks, beans, squash etc. and love every second I'm there. Obsessed really!
About to plant fruit trees - and there are one or two large anthills in the way. The site has loads of them - yellow meadow I think, and think the ants have moved further underground for winter. Am wondering if can use the soil on garden or is it bad for crops? Think I read it was somewhere. Am I being cruel? They really are everywhere on the plot. I discovered loads of larvae when digging over ground for spuds last week. Am leaving some nests alone which are on paths etc.

Fran

[jools]

Personally, I would get rid of them. I used to have a really back blackfly problem on my fruit trees. My cherry tree was just too big to sort the blackfly problem out and all the leaves were dripping with a black treacle like substance. Then I realised the ants were "farming" the blackfly. I got rid of the ants and I got rid of the blackfly problem. These were the ordinary black ants though.
Jools