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I'm a bit concerned as I just uncovered a pile of chipped wood thats been covered for the past 6 months to find it had some mushrooms growing on it and quite a lot of white mycelium through the chips.

I'd like to know if this is definitely honey fungus or just some other type thats grown through the damp chips. Is it true that the mycelium in Honey fungus is black? I hope so.

see the picture below....

Is it possible to see a pic of the fungi in situ before picking? You get a mass of mycelium with a blackish outer crust, which phosphoresces. If you do come across it, it's extremely good to eat.

I think that is just one of many fungi that clear up the dead wood. Honey fungus, Armilaria melia usually seeks living trees for its host and once established, will eventually kill the tree. The black mycellium you are thinking of are actually rhizomorphs and look like thin tree roots or bootlaces and travel through the soil looking for new tree roots to infect. These bootlaces can travel through the soil at the rate of 10cm per week under favorable conditions and may form an underground network extending for many square miles.

Here's some pictures of the bootlaces in a dead tree. They would have travelled up underneath the bark while the tree was alive. http://www.bluewisteria.co.uk/pest/mushroom.html

The mushrooms normally appear in Sept-Oct but I've seen some out last week.

well there wasn't any phosphorescent black outer crust just a slimy bit on top of the pile with some mushrooms growing in it. It was mainly the white stringy powdery stuff through the pile I was worried about.

Seems like its probably not the dreaded honey fungus then  ;D

Damp wood chips, covered, and presumably in the dark? That`s almost certainly old fashioned dry rot.

great, thanks for the help guys.