Aphids on fruit trees

[LittleMissCountry]

I have aphids all over my new apple trees. The trees are about 7 feet tall right now, and I didn't notice until yesterday, since the top leaves are mostly affected.

Our neighbor raises honeybees, so I don't want to use anything that will kill the bees. Does insecticidal soap really work for fruit trees? It didn't work for my pea plants, as the aphids killed my peas almost overnight. I couldn't keep up with them.

Any other suggestions? I have hosed them off, but they seem to come right back.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might follow this link to see if you can identify the specific aphid. There are different types that may require different treatments. If the apple trees are not flowering you should not have to sorry about honey bees on them, but watch overspray and drift.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/ants-aphids-apple-trees-27516.html

Insecticidal soaps should work for aphids and should be about as safe as anything. It should have worked on the peas. Are you sure those were aphids and not something else, like flea beetles? Though I didn't think flea beetles typically attack peas.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

You might follow this link to see if you can identify the specific aphid. There are different types that may require different treatments. If the apple trees are not flowering you should not have to sorry about honey bees on them, but watch overspray and drift.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/ants-aphids-apple-trees-27516.html

Insecticidal soaps should work for aphids and should be about as safe as anything. It should have worked on the peas. Are you sure those were aphids and not something else, like flea beetles? Though I didn't think flea beetles typically attack peas.

I think the peas didn't stand a chance to begin with. One morning they were covered. I sprayed them, and it killed the existing aphids, but the next day they were covered again. I kept at it, but the peas died.

The aphids are green...must be the green apple aphids. The others are described as brown or red.

I may do a dose of regular insecticide now, then, since it won't hurt the bees, to kill the millions of aphids on the tree, then follow up with the insecticidal soap when I see them again.

 

[ChickenJoe007]

Use biodegradable soap and neem oil

People claim neem oil won’t hurt bees, because the insect has to bite the leaf then it dies but I do think sometimes the bees could die by ingesting some of the dew on the leaf. I use it myself and I have bees, I don’t use it often but my bees seem to do fine but I noticed when I mixed it sort of strong and used it often I found a few dead bees but nothing to concerning. There have been studies done and they claim aslong as the neem oil is not to strong the bees were fine

Also lady bugs can work but they always go away