Last year we unleashed 1000 ladybugs to make sure our fruit trees didn’t have an aphid problem. They seemed to work for a little while but by mid-summer it was difficult to find any. This year we decided to fore-go purchasing ladybugs but upon inspection it looks like we’ve got some naturally. I guess some of their offspring decided to stick around. Here’s a shot of just one, but we could find a few on each tree. We also had the trees sprayed with dormant oil to help prevent bug infestations. The oil makes it so when flies try to lay eggs on the tree, the eggs won’t stick. No eggs, means no larvae burrowing into the fruit. The oil is why the bark looks so shiny.