Dick said: Under these conditions IN THE PRESENCE OF
> NOSEMA the BT pollen affected the digestive system negatively and
> permanently.

This is a very interesting point, Dick.  Nosema makes the gut more 
permeable.  The author of the German paper stated that nosema shouldn't be a 
problem since the disease is absent when corn is producing pollen.  That 
only applies to N. apis, but not to N. ceranae, which can have high levels 
during the summer.

We checked 125 individual colonies for nosema infection levels yesterday. 
It is surprising to see the differences yard to yard, colony to colony, and 
bee to bee!  Some yards had 90% of the colonies highly infested.  Some yards 
averaged very low levels.  A colony with high infestation can be sitting 
next to a colony with extremely low spore levels (it is rare to find a 
colony in which you can find zero spores).

Randy Oliver 

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