[Herbalist] Formosan Termites

[Tara Sersen Boroson]

Kathleen Keeler wrote:

> It makes a big difference where you are, I would think.  I subscribe 
> to this list from Mag Mor in Calontir.  I imagine our cold winters 
> will kill Formosan termites.  However, I live in an area with large 
> colonies of resident native termites.  The latest baits may kill them, 
> but I'm not counting on it.  Putting down any kind of wood chip mulch 
> feeds them.  Bad idea!
> Agnes


Around here, and elsewhere from what I udnerstand, a huge issue with 
mulch is "shotgun" or "artillery" fungus.  It shoots it's spores at any 
light colored surface - aluminum siding, cars, etc.  Apparantly, you 
can't paint over it, it seeps through the paint.  A friend of mine, who 
is a professional landscaper, makes all her clients sign a waiver about 
this fungus if they insist she put down mulch.


> Jane Sellers wrote:
>
>No the termites aren't the legend, but I understand that Louisiana has in
>place laws and regulations to prevent reusing any infected wood from either
>houses or downed trees as recycled lumber or mulch.
>S  
>  
>

Sorry... I should have read the snopes link before replying ;)  As I 
said, though, with what I know of the construction industry, I do *not* 
trust that those laws will really prevent the recycling of that wood 
into circulation.  Legal abuses by building contractors, tree-removal 
contractors, etc. are so incredibly rampant.  They are the leading 
source of complaints to the attourney general in our state.

-Magdalena

-- 
Tara Sersen Boroson

'Normal' is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it. -Ellen Goodman

[T]o admit authorities, however heavily furred and gowned, into our libraries and let them tell us how to read, what to read, what value to place upon what we read, is to destroy the spirit of freedom which is the breath of those sanctuaries. -Virginia Woolf