This issue of colonies stronger if fed protein without fumagillin, only use if needed - could be explained by one of the first comments to me by Dr. Robert Cramer at MSU. He's a fungal pathologist in the molecular veterinary labs in Bozeman, has been working on alternatives to fumagillin - see Jan Bee Culture. Robb was surprised that beekeepers used fumagillin. He said that in mammals, fumagillin is known to suppress the immune system, not something one wants to see when treating sick animals. He didn't know if this applied to bees - I suggest that he not waste time confirming this, but to immediately focus on alternatives for Nosema control, which he did. Jerry **************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's capital.(http://www.aol.com?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000027) ******************************************************* * Search the BEE-L archives at: * * http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l * *******************************************************