Competing "Farmers" in my Patch of Cowpeas

I have several varieties of cowpeas that are maturing right now, including, Black-eyed peas, Purple Hull peas, Ozark Razorback peas, and Holstein peas.  As soon as they began to bloom and put on little pods, I noticed a couple of things.  First the pods and stems were covered with little bugs.  A closer look showed that they were aphids.  But, they weren't the only insects on the cowpeas.  There were ants running up and down the plants.

Aphids on my cowpeas

According to This Interesting Article the aphids are actually being herded like farmers and ranchers herd cows.  Ants are the farmers in this instance.  Instead of using a 'hot shot' like farmers and ranchers use to provide an electric shock to cows to keep them in line, ants use chemicals on their feet to tranquilize the aphids so that they stay close.  The reason the ants want their herd of aphids close is that the aphids provide something that the ants want.  The aphids eat the plant and then secrete a sugary excretion called 'honeydew' that the ants eat.

A heard of aphids on the ants' "pasture"

You can see a couple of ants on top of the cowpea leaf checking the herd and then having maybe having a snack of some sticky-sweet honeydew.

The competing farmer in the cowpea patch

So all that sounds fine and good, I guess, but not for me.  The aphids make a sticky mess on the pods and when you try to pick them, the ants bite you.  I have to do something to get rid of both the aphids and the ants and wanted to try natural means to do so.  I mixed up some Dawn Dishwashing liquid with some water in my garden sprayer and sprayed the leaves of the cowpeas real good with the sudsy concoction.  The soap is supposed to remove a waxy protective covering on the insects causing dehydration and death.  Those that don't die, will leave.  

Spraying a soapy solution on the peas

I coated the leaves with a heavy coating in hopes of making the farmers and their herd of aphids either die or leave for greener pastures.

Did it Work?

So did the soapy water experiment work?

The day after my application, I was real encouraged.  The cowpeas were completely clean!  The aphids and ants were nowhere in sight.  Unfortunately, two days later, they were back with a vengeance, covering the plants even more than previously.  I quickly picked the ripened pods and threw them in a bucket of water to wash the aphids and ants off.  For next year's crop of cowpeas, I'll make sure that I have Neem Oil on hand.  I don't have any right now, but I have since read that Neem oil is a good natural way to control aphids and ants on cowpeas.  

If at first you don't succeed, try try again.  The garden is only big enough for one of us, and I'm not leaving.  Many times I have enough trouble getting a crop in.  I certainly don't need competing farmers in my garden.