I am not convinced that nosema spore count is a reliable indicator. I wonder if hives that appear to succumb to nosema are not actually infected with other pathogens which may be responsible for the mortality. Fries stated:

> In Germany, where microsporidia infections are monitored to species, there appears to be no clear causal link between winter losses and infections with N. ceranae (Siede et al., 2008). Although N. ceranae appears to be the most prevalent microsporidian parasite in German honey bees, the disease prevalence actually decreased between 2004–2007, to increase somewhat again in 2008 (Monitoring-Projekt ‘‘Völkerverluste”, 2008). This situation certainly does not suggest that the occurrence of N. ceranae in colonies from central Europe will lead to the dramatic effects described from Spain.

On the other hand, fumagillin is expensive and may leave residues in honey.

             ***********************************************
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

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L