This past winter saw many problems with Nosema ceranae in western Crete.  The
problem was particularly acute in colonies that had been taken to the pine
forests to gather honeydew and then were fed fondant that contained pollen from
Spain.  Now here is the important part/question:  is this pollen free from
Nosema spores?  Is this pollen in fact Spanish?  or is it actually Chinese
baptised as European?  We know that large amounts of Chinese honey finds its way
onto the European market through Spain and therefore it is only reasonable to
assume that this also happens with pollen and other bee products.
It seems that Nosema ceranae has been present in many bee populations for a long
time as a "hidden" species and that it was only relatively recently recognised
as being a separate species from Nosema apis.  Problems happen in combination
with high levels of Varroa.  Maybe in Sweden with the long winter, effective
oxalic acid treatments and the very short summer and good sanitary management
that it doesn't get the chance to get going. 
Best regards
Roger White
Heraklion, Crete. 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm