A number of our beekeepers here in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) are reporting dysentery symptoms  following lengthy periods of cold weather and lack of cleansing flights. Nothing surprising there, eh? I have one colony displaying such symptoms and my Nosema spp. spore count points to nosemosis.

I’m curious about the possible relationship between dysentery and honeydew. 

In their chapter concerning “Winter Management of Honey Bee Colonies” (HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE, pp.637-638), Currie, et al. say that “some honeys are undesirable because they are thought to have a high proportion of undigestible material (e.g. honeydew produced from collection of aphid secretions).”  They cite F.W.L. Sladen’s 1920 text, “Wintering bees in Canada.” Sladen says, “Honey-dew, the excretion of plant lice dropped on the leaves of trees and collected by the bees, is also very injurious, because it contains a large proportion of indigestible matter. Fortunately, it is produced and collected by the bees less frequently and less extensively in Canada than to the south” (p.6).  However, these authors do not directly link honeydew to dysentery.

Writing from the Yukon in the latest issue of BEESCENE (2019: 42), Etienne Tardiff references a “very high percentage of honeydew” in his honey last year as well as a Nosema problem. However, he did not link honeydew to this problem.

On the other hand, Sammataro and Avitabile (BEEKEEPER'S HANDBOOK, p.195) say that one cause of dysentery is "honeydew in stores." We have absolutely no data re. honeydew in our honey here in NL.

Do any of you have any references or observations that clearly establish a relationship between honeydew and dysentery/nosemosis?

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