>supporting the hypothesis that nosemosis is not the main reason

> of the collapse and death of beehives.
>>
>
Nosemosis, whether by N apis or ceranae, can clearly cause the collapse
and/or death of colonies--otherwise there would be little market for
fumagillin.  Once either nosema infects over about half the bees in a hive,
that colony will start to go downhill.  That doesn't necessarily mean that
it is the cause of CCD.

>I have a hunch that both nosemas have been around a lot longer than
initially proposed

As I have viewed samples of nosema in various areas over the past few
years, my observations support the hypothesis the N ceranae has recently
invaded.  For example, at a convention in Oregon last year, the organizers
set up microscopes for attendees to view bee pathogens.  When I looked at
the nosema sample, I was surprised to clearly see the distinctive spores of
N apis, rather than the N ceranae which I expected.  When I questioned
where the sample came from, it turned out that it was from an archived
sample of bees in alcohol from a several years earlier.  Current samples
generally contain N ceranae.

This has happened several times.  Juanse and I also observed samples of
what appeared to be pure N apis when we visited Western Australia.  N
ceranae had apparently not yet invaded.


> >perhaps -- the distinction between the two is an artifact of improved
> technology and observation, and the need to publish, publish, publish...
>
> Or, perhaps we are simply observing the invasion of a novel parasite into
bee populations worldwide, similar to the invasions of  American Foulbrood,
tracheal mite, various viruses, and one parasite invasion that you've
surely noticed--that of the varroa mite.  I seriously doubt that the
invasion by varroa was an artifact of the need of researchers to publish!
 (That was a comment intended to be humorous).

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm