The earliest report on CCD (even before it was called that) clearly looked at Nosema as a possible contributing factor.

A beekeeper complaining of heavy losses to colonies approached Dr. Diana Cox-Foster
of Penn State University. In response, Diana accompanied by Dr. Nancy Ostiguy, visited
the beekeeper’s home yard and collected samples of 1) bee bread in dead-out colonies, 2)
honey from dead-out colonies, 3) frames of dead brood (no dead bees were found by the
beekeeper at the original location or within the dead-out colonies) and 4) four living
nucleus colonies which were transferred to Penn State and stored in a secure building
until live bees could be collected. Live worker bees and queens were placed in individual
vials and stored at –80OC. An additional ~50 bees were placed in alcohol. Samples of
bee bread and honey were also collected. The bees in alcohol were sent to Dennis
vanEngelsdorp (who is affiliated with both the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
(PDA) and Penn State University), and he analyzed the samples for Varroa mite
abundance, HBTM infection, amoeba disease, nosema disease, and digestive tract
abnormalities.

Fall Dwindle Disease: A preliminary report
December 15, 2006
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