Be alarmed!!!

The ants are almost certainly farming some sort of pest. On an Aloe, the most likely thing would be root mealies or aphids. Check between the leaves (where they attach to the stem) and any inflorescences very carefully for aphids, and if you don't find any, take a look at the roots.

Thanks joscience.
Can't find anything visible between the leaves. As suggested, I should take a look at the roots.
Should I treat it with NEEM regardless?
If found root mealies, should I just wash the roots out and let dry? thx

Can you see where the ants are going? It isn't impossible to imagine they are feeding on the nectar, but if that were the case, there should be a pretty clear "stream" of ants up the inflorescence.

In regards to NEEM, I've never had any luck treating outbreaks of root-mealies with pesticides of any sort. I either completely remove the soil from the roots, wash them off with a hose spray, and let it dry for a few days, or just toss the plant into the compost bin. In my personal experience, mealies (farmed or otherwise) usually infest plants that already have some kind of health problem. In particular, *under-watering* seems to invite a mealie infestation.

I really, really hate ants. They cause me so much grief in the garden. Between a freakish collective intelligence, and essentially an infinite supply of workers, they are an unbeatable enemy. The only long term solution I've found to ants is to prevent access. I have most of my plants on racks, so I put that sticky "Tarfoot" stuff around each leg so they can't access my plants to begin with. But you have to stay vigilant. A single fallen branch can be enough of a bridge to let the little devils try and take over a whole rack of plants!

I couldn't find a stream of ants - just pockets here and there.
Also found some in the soil around the trunk.

I will follow your advice on preventive measures. Thanks Joscience

Imidacloprid will wipe out mealies and aphids very well. With succulents it takes longer because the chemical is effective in new growth only so if growth is slow, so is the killing effect.

If root mealies are suspected it may be wise to treat all of your plants. You don't know where the mealies originated from and where they may have spread.

x

There are many things that will wipe out ants, they are the least of the problems, find out where the queen is located, trace it back follow their trail, if you get her you will get them all. I have ued Mr. Clean, alcohol w/water 'Safer's Soap' Yardley Hair Shanpoo' with coconut oil/'Amway Soap' with coconut oil Any dry pesticide for ants. The main thing is to go back to the nest, get the queen. Root mealies, use Hort. Adolphis stuff. Spelling in wrong and darn no spell check here. Norma

Scale is another pest that makes the honeydew ants like. Check the underside of the leaves for little brown bumps.

Thank you for responding.
I went back and read some of the great remedies offered by you all in the past posts.

To be on the safe side, I will unpot all the suspected plants, hopefully by doing so I will in fact eradicate the problem or prevent a potential outbreak. Here's what I am going to do: (maybe I should do this whenever I get a new plant)?
Unpot all the suspect plants (I have some large 15 gallon ones).
Wash the roots completely and get all the existing potting soil out.
Spray the roots with combination of water/alchohol.
Wait 5-10 minutes.
Rinse off with water.
Let dry.
plant with fresh soil.
Once planted, spray with one of the remedies (e.g. NEEM, alcohol, water, soap once a week for 4 weeks; then monitor).

What do you think about the above steps. Is it overkill?

That's a lot of work! Some things to consider:

Repotting succulents is generally done best with a dry substrate, so if you intend on soaking the roots, I would wait until your plants are actively growing, so that they can heal properly from the trauma and tolerate the moisture.

If you have a cold spot you can keep your plants until the spring, any critters will be in check as they are "cold-blooded".

Also, I think soaking all the plants is overkill - only treat those that have identifiable problems. Root mealies are easily visible, powdery puffs usually on roots growing near the neck of the plant or at the bottom of the pot.

Best of luck! x