Woolly aphid have invaded our apple tree and drastic action has had to be taken. Woolly aphid are sucking insects that can do severe damage to fruit trees, in this case our apple tree.
It is not pretty, the result of their work. The tree was heavily covered in a woolly fluff and the end result is that it disfigures the tree and obviously reduces cropping.
I don’t have a good picture of the infestation as my husband has done the remedial work on the tree to get rid of the aphid but there is a picture here.
The work involved severe pruning.
Followed by painting of the cut limbs.
He then had to attack the remaining woolly aphid with methylated spirits by painting over the remaining bugs. He didn’t want to use a chemical such as Confidor and preferred to go the more natural control method. Advice from various sources says that predatory insects are the best way to eliminate the aphid but it would take too long to find predatory insects to eliminate the woolly aphid!! Hopefully the methylated spirits will do the trick.
Our apple tree is now much smaller but we are keeping our fingers crossed that the aphids have been eliminated.
Gippsland Granny 
Yikes, hope the tree will be OK.