>
> >Were the above bees heavily infested and bees not taking syrup or simply
> trying to reduce spore counts to almost zero for research purposes?


He was simply trying to determine the most effective method of treatment,
trying to avoid the contamination of honey by fumagillin, which is a
serious issue in Europe.  That is also why I am attracted to the drench
method, provided that it actually gives good results.

>I have put a inside feeder in such hives to test and within 24 hours the
feeder is plugged with bees .

Thanks for the tip!  I will have to try this.

I am also very interested in your spraying of deadout combs with bleach
solution.  N ceranae spores are very sensitive to bleach.  Such bleaching
would be expected to kill spores, viruses, and bacteria on the surface of
the combs.  I would really like to see the results of a controlled trial of
the method.

>I am challenging the assumption that high spore counts in bees indicate
that the colonies are headed for collapse. This is NOT the same as counting
varroa. I have yet to see a hive with very high levels of varroa ever
recover on its own. Usually once they reach 30% they are not coming back,
even with treatment. Whereas, high levels of nosema spores are often seen
in hives that are apparently healthy. Also, there is plenty of evidence
that fumagillin is not effective in lowering spore counts and/or reducing
colony collapse. SO -- the burden of proof is on those who claim that a
colony with high spore count is going to fail or not produce a crop or not
build up normally.

I generally agree here with Pete.  High nosema spore counts can reverse;
not so with varroa.  However, as I've recently published in ABJ (and am
posting to my website after publication), spore counts may not really tell
the story--one may need to look at "prevalence"--the percentage of bees in
a hive that are infected.  My article in press will go into the insidious
effects of nosema infection in much greater detail.  The article that I am
currently working on will dispute the assertion that treatment is
necessarily ineffective at reducing colony collapse.

On the other hand, I am not yet ready to get on the bandwagon for regular
prophylactic treatment.

>Spain has a higher number of hives than the U,S. and have studied nosema
cerana years longer,

The US researchers are starting to catch up.  I am in constant
correspondence with Dr Mariano Higes.  The situation in Spain is different
from that in much of the U.S.  Colonies are rarely requeened (vigorous
queens are a main defense against nosema), colonies do not go through as
pronounced a cycle of buildup during the season,  forage is often sparse,
and little fumagillin is used.  All the above tend to make N ceranae a more
serious problem, and the incidence of infection is still increasing.

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

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