Anthill in orchard - bad or good - how to remove if that's right move?

We have an anthill in our small old orchard of just one row of trees along a fence line, with each tree amply spaced and a good space from fence. The anthill is near the fence, so a good bit of distance from the trees. OFC, that wouldn't stop them from eating the leaves or whatever they do. Is it advised to remove them from orchards?  Or can Permanent Agriculture handle such handily? Thanks, OgreNick

there are lots of different ants. most won't be a problem in an orchard setting. i wouldn't go out of my way to do anything about them unless i have proof they're making trouble.

Hey OgreNick, I got rid of some ground dwelling wasps with a couple applications of urine (in a cup, stealthily)

Nick, where are you and what kind of ants are they?  That makes all the difference.

Organic gardening does benefit from ants, unless they will cause harm to people or pets.  They usually only put their nests where it's dry.  Is it too dry for the rest of the plants you've got in the area?  They are a good indicator of what's going on in the vicinity.

Ants can add 50tons of organic matter per acre per year (Mollison). Their tunneling increases water infiltration, soil aeration, root penetration, and they control many problematic ground dwelling species. They also probably help clean up fallen fruit to reduce disease and wasps. They are ultimately doing jobs we probably don’t want to or cannot do yourself. If they are not nasty biters or aggressive, I wouldn’t worry about them. We can even use some species to process meat waste. I’ve seen a deer skull stripped to bone in a week on an ant hill.

Wow, glad they can be integrated! I doubt they're serious biters, and besides, way over there, I'd just like to see how changes made changes what the presence of who & what indicates which and what. Will send in pics as my interest is piqued. Ty 2 all here

Edit: I did a search for anthill & orchard before writing this and found replies talking about using a bit of soap as a wetting agent, tho was to be mixed or used alternately with soda water, so to displace some oxygen from the H2O for asphyxiation works where drowning doesn't. That sounds all so violent -- hardly aerial balming Gonna work to amicable solution

The best way I've seen so far was from a guy on YouTube (can't find it after searching). Just take a shovel-full of a different ant colony and dump it on the one that is causing problems. They must see it as their colony being compromised or something and they leave. I've only done it once, but it did work.

Hi guys. So, ants have benefits according to Mollison, but it is making me crazy seeing them carrying my seeds away!

The permaculture principle is to observe first then design a solution.   Sone ants like the red headed ones here just gather fire needles to make there nest and any sap from the injuries on the trees .  others farm aphids and will carry aphids to new growth on fruit trees and then milk them for the sweet juice they emit.  The former just make compost for me the latter are more problematic.  I wondered where the ants were getting the aphids in the spring   then I discovered aphids on roots being tended by ants in the wintertime when a rock was knocked out of a wall.   Then I remembered in my youth I had observed aphids on English Ivy that hd invaded the interior of our log root cellar.
Some ants will not distinguish between sugar crystals and borax crystals and carry both back and feed them to their brood therefore killing the colony.

Fire ants are the only ants that concern me.  Saw some where what 3 gallons of boiling water was maybe 60-70% effective in killing the colony.  Haven't tried it, but I have stirred them up and hit the hoard with a weed torch.  Doesn't kill the colony, but knocks them back pretty well.

Be aware, if you're planning on bees, ants can rob the hive to starvation, or lead to the bees choosing to live elsewhere.

I once knew a beekeeper who would take a shovel full of one anthill and exchange it for a shovel full of a different anthill. Each colony of ants see invaders. The result was often two dead colonies. Good news if you should choose to be rid of your own ants.