More information that was not included in the writing of "A Spring Without Bees"

> The residue analysis of 40 compounds demonstrated that the bees from all the colonies were not exposed to any pesticides. The pollen availability, its diversity and the presence of more than enough stored pollen at the time of breakdown were demonstrated by palynological studies. Moreover, neither sunflower nor corn crops, previously related with large decreases in the population of bee colonies, were close to the location of the hive, as reflected by the complete absence of these pollens in the samples analysed. The presence of pollen is directly related with the beekeeping flora and indicates the botanic resources available monthly throughout the study. Twenty different taxa were found indicating high pollen diversity and availability in foraging areas. The blooming period of the different taxa identified indicated that the bees had access to sufficient flowers throughout the year, except in January.

> In essence, we have extracted the pathogen, confirmed that it can be transmitted to healthy colonies inducing the disease and colony breakdown, and we have recovered N. ceranae from these newly infected colonies. Multiplication of the parasite occurs throughout the year with no standstill in its life cycle. Moreover, no differences in the pathological alterations to infected bees were observed in different seasons. Fumagillin treatment was a useful method to avoid colony collapse although it doesn't prevent reinfection.

How natural infection by Nosema ceranae causes honeybee colony collapse
Mariano Higes, et al
Received 14 March, 2008; accepted 13 May, 2008.
(c) 2008 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd

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