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Date: | Mon, 3 Apr 2006 08:28:04 -0400 |
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Another Piece in the Massive Honeybee Losses Puzzle?
>
> New Damaging Nosema Species Reported
>
> Translated by ... Eric McArthur
>
>
> A report in the "Deutsches Bienen Journal", March issue highlights
another
> possible culprit for the high level of honey bee deaths being recorded
> throughout Europe. In 1996 a new species of Nosema was discovered on
Apis
> cerana, the Asian honeybee, it received the name Nosema ceranae. An
> assumption was made at that time that this species was specific to A.
> cerana, however in 2005 Chinese scientists isolated the 'new' Nosema
> species in A. mellifera colonies in Taiwan. In the same year
scientists in
> the Castilla -La Mancha Institute in Spain and the University of
Madrid
> found Nosema ceranae in A.mellifera in Europe for the first time. This
> disease vector is only able to be distinguished from Nosema apis, the
> classic Apis mellifera vector using molecular genetic techniques. The
> incidence of Nosema in Spain has increased from a level of 10% in 2000
to
> some 88% in 2004.
>
> 8 colonies in Germany have already been diagnosed positive for
N.ceranae
> all of these colonies died.
>
> The Swiss, Italians, Germans and Austrians have been cooperating in a
> Europe wide research programme since 2002. In winter 2002/2003 the
Nosema
> infection levels were around 38%. Results from trials in Spain seem to
> indicate that Nosema infestations are on the increase.
>
> A worrying factor in the latest reports is that colonies appear to be
> being killed very quickly and losses are occurring during the course
of
> the whole year - bees crawling on the ground in front of the hive is a
> classic symptom.
>
> During the observations this winter colonies were noted making
relatively
> heavy cleansing flights at 4 C. This observation seems to indicate a
> severe need for the bees to defecate. A link to the new Nosema
organism
> however cannot be made conclusively. There is very little known about
the
> course of the disease and its symptoms in Asia.
>
> Reference: "Asian Nosema Disease Vector Confirmed - Is this a new
> Infestation or only now discovered?" Dr Wolfgang Ritter, Freiburg
> University. 'Das Deutsche Bienen Journal', March issue 2006
>
Kim Flottum
Editor, BeeCulture
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Medina, Ohio 44256
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