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Sandi from Chicopee, Ma writes

Could the tiny baby termites in my flower bed have come from wood mulch?

2 weeks ago I spread wood(hemlock) mulch in my flower beds and today dug some areas to set the plants and the mulch and the dirt 1/4 inch deep is saturated with tiny baby termites(not flying yet,1/4inch long or less)If I dug down deeper, no bugs. All the areas with no mulch nearer the house, no bugs. The mulch came from a commercial supplier in mega yards, not bags.I heard the mulch was heated to kill bugs.Could this mulch have been treated(heated) but left in the yard of the supplier for several months and become infested? I've never had this issue before.Any advice is appreciated.

Answer:

It is really impossible for us to say for sure where the termites came from. This is termite swarming season and they could have come from the mulch or a gravid female could have flown in and laid eggs and started a new colony in the last couple of weeks. Termites in mulch is very common and usually not a concern as long as you have had your home treated with termite barrier.

Answer last updated on: 05/23/2013

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