TERMITES in Bark Mulch? ? ?

Has anyone heard of this? I was told that a fellow gardener found termites in piles of shredded bark in the yard of a home he just bought--- I was shocked--- especially as I have about a dozen bags of 'Bark Mulch' waiting to go onto my gardens--(some is cedar-will that discourage termites, if I even have to worry at all?)Does this only happen in PILES ??? Am I safe if I'm only putting on a layer thick enough to suppress weeds??? HELP!!! (before it's too late)
P.S. I'm in Oregon Z7

Hi Scorda, cant say I have ever heard of the termite problems on the bark mulch, however, there could always be a first, the bark is usually chipped and sprayed so that things like termites dont get carried/delivered all over the country causing problems where they did'nt have them before, however, if you are so worried, ask where you got your mulch from so that you can return it or have your mind set at peace, If it came from a reputable place, then maybe the guy is trying to give you sleepless nights as a joke, however as you seem to be really unsure, take a sample to your gov department for them to check it out for you. good luck, WeeNel.

scordra,
I don't know for certain that termites will get in bark mulch but wouldn't take any chances. We just finished building our house about 3 years ago and I fixed flowerbeds all the way around. I put mulch on them as the final touch and thought they looked so pretty. However, when our termite agent came out to take pictures for our file, he told us we needed to rake the mulch at least 1 foot away from the foundation in order for them to cover us. They prefer that you have rock or pea gravel right up next to the foundation. I asked him if I raked the mulch away and used groundcover instead, would that be permissable. He said that would be fine so that's what I did and really do like the look. I'm letting the groundcover take over the beds and it's just growing around all my plants with no ill effects.

I could swear I posted a response to this question a couple days ago, am I imagining things or was it maybe posted somewhere else too? They absolutely can get into bark mulch, they wouldn't survive the process of making the mulch so when you buy a bag of it you're not likely buying termites too along with it, but if there are termites in your area they will eat the mulch. So you're exactly right, that's why you don't want to pile it near the foundation.

Thank you all for your help--I am using grd covers also, but wanted mulch until they filled in--(and ecrane3, I did have this query on another site where I mentioned that it was my 2nd posting --I didn't come back to this site to do the same--sorry I gave you a headache!!?!

No worries, sometimes I wonder if I'm imagining things, or sometimes I'll start to post something but then get distracted and don't get back to it. So I'm glad that's not the case this time!

In SC the termites will get into pine bark and if your lucky and have it pushed up against your siding they will go for your house. They don't like cedar as far as I know.

When I lived in Virginia, having the termites get into the mulch was a nightmare. I finally had to use only cedar, which they didn't seem to care for as much as pine.