Charleston Post Courier, SC
06-04-06
Termites in mulch online urban legend
BY TONY BERTAUSKI
Do you know someone who believes every e-mail he receives? You know,
pictures of Bigfoot and Loch Ness, and he can't wait to forward them to you.
Not long after Hurricane Katrina, an e-mail began circulating about Formosan
termites in mulch coming from the storm-ravaged area. It went something like,
"(Mulch) will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowe's at dirt-cheap prices with
one huge problem; Formosan termites will be the bonus in many of those bags."
Who spends the time writing these things, and why?
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry quarantines susceptible
counties so no wood moves out without approval. Also, the Mulch and Soil
Council has certification standards that would not allow storm material to be
used. According to Louisiana State University, it's highly unlikely termites could
survive the grinding process and high temperatures in mulch packaging. North
Carolina State University inspected more than 500 bags from retail stores and
found no evidence of termites.
However, this does bring up a good discussion for termites in general. As most
people are aware, the South is a perfect environment for termites. It's warm and
moist. Like ants, termites live in social colonies with distinct classes that can
number more than 1 million. Unlike ants, termites are whitish and susceptible to
desiccation. Therefore, they build mud tubes to avoid exposure.
Termites feed on wood. In nature, that wood comes from decomposing dead
trees; this is a good thing. They may travel as far as the length of a football field
from the nest to forage for food.
Aside from insecticides, ways to protect your home are to avoid wood contact
with the soil. Even treated wood is not immune from termites.
Avoid moisture accumulation near your foundation. Make sure gutter downspouts
dispose of water away from the house. Be sure crawl spaces are well-ventilated
by keeping vents open and unobstructed. Cover soil in the crawl space with
plastic sheeting to reduce humidity. Never store firewood next to the house or in
the crawl space. Logs are like a room at the top of the Hilton, and termites will
move right in.
Mulch often is a wood product, such as shredded cypress or pine chips.
Research has indicated that, although termites can feed on mulch, it's more the
favorable environment that attracts them than the food source. Research at the
University of Florida showed that termites prefer sapwood mulch (the outer,
active part of the tree) over heartwood (inactive, inner section). Practically
speaking, that doesn't help us much since mulch isn't separated into sapwood
and heartwood. They concluded that the risk of termite infestation due to mulch
still is undetermined.
Iowa State University tested several mulch environments to see which was
most conducive for termite activity. They found that wood mulches were no more
attractive than gravel mulches, both providing the critical warm, moist
environment for tunneling. They concluded there was no evidence mulching
actually attracted termites more than any other similar environment.
When it comes to mulching around your house, most sources suggest common
sense. Keep it off the wood portions of the house. Mulching up to the concrete
foundation is preferable. In most cases, annual inspections are sufficient to keep
termites from becoming a problem.
As far as those e-mails go, when in doubt check the Web site www.snopes.com.
It gives the skinny on Elvis sightings and how you can make a million dollars by
forwarding this e-mail.
My son once told me Ninjas could breathe under water. He read it on a Web site.
Oh, then it must be true.
Tony Bertauski is a horticulture instructor at Trident Technical College. To give
feedback or request specific topics here, e-mail Tony at
tony.bertauski@tridenttech.edu.