I think maybe I'd paint the scaffolds and trunk with a diluted white latex paint and water mixture and see if that helps ward them off those important areas. I'm not an expert at all on fruit trees, so this is just an idea! I've had them get my roses, though. The slit they make is no problem for an older rose (they heal so well), but it can hurt the younger ones. I saw a slit the other day on a rose that I'm thinking may be them. I've only seen one shell this year, but maybe they really like roses? I'm not sure which plants they like best out of plants they do like. I'm watching things, too. My orchard is very young, and a big brood was predicted for my area.

Fire ants make mounds and not holes. The mounds start out small and become larger as the colony population increases. These mounds look rather innocent until you disturb them, and ALL of the ants boil out of the mound all at once. Again, there is never a discernible hole. I never worry about ants in my yard and garden, other than fire ants. Fire ants can be a problem for humans, pets, bird nests, beneficial insect eggs and larvae, and such.

Below is an old thread covering this, but basically, if there is a thin piece of countertop behind your existing range, it is a slide in. Usually the control panel will be on the front. If instead your controls are on a back panel that touches your kitchen wall -- butts right up to it -- you have a free standing. Here is a link that might be useful: Old thread on free standing vs slide in

I totally agree with other posters. You make your offer based on FAIR market value, not on the asking price. Find out what sold recently, consider all factors i.e. location, shape of the house, extras. Find the closest comparable & go from there. Offer a little less to leave room for negotiations. Sometimes a comp is not a comp, although it may be indentical to the house your purchasing. There are circumstances where buyers sell for a lot less. If there is an emergency to sell, time of the year & other, the price usually drops tremendously because the owner needs to get out quickly. You cannot use that as a true comp. Those are the things that you consider when making an offer based on comps. I find asking prices are all over the place. Many buyers assume that everybody prices their homes too high because they are not familiar with close comps. Example: I went to an Open House yesterday. The house was overpriced by at least 100k. These people just put it on the market & threw up a figure, thinking the RE is appreciating like it did in 2004. If I were buying that house, I would make an offer for 120k less than the asking price. When I was selling my house, I already priced it 20k (579k instead of 599k)below comps. I would have been insulted with any offer for less than another 30k (550k) below asking. At that point, I figured 10% below what the true comparable was sufficient for the buyer. That's exactly what happened. I sold it for 550k. They got a good buy & I did ok, seeing that I needed to sell & it was in the dead of winter. Had I been selling in the spring, I would have wanted closer to my already lower than comps asking price. I may have settled around 569k.