Dear George,
I don't consider nosema a serious bee disease and have never treated
for it in 38 consecutive years of bkeeping, that is, I've NEVER used
fumagillin or its relatives. In short, as a hobby bkeeper, I'm not
interested in any type of medication, although I will admit that I
do use Apistan strips for Varroa mites.
Jack in Maryland
 
On Sat, 21 Feb 1998, George W Imirie wrote:
 
> John:  I have long considered Nosema as the UNTREATED disease, because most
> beekeepers have no idea that their bees are sick with it.  Much (too much) has
> been made about the deposits of bee feces all over the front of a colony is
> THE indicator of nosema disease in the colony.  Dysentery (diarrhea) is a
> condition of nosema, BUT dysentery can be caused by many other things other
> than nosema.  It is too bad that Basil Furgala of Univ. of Minn. is dead,
> because he was a foremost authority on nosema.  It has bee estimated that 2/3
> of all the bees in the U. S. have some nosema infestation present!  TWO
> THIRDS!  WOW!  I can't do much work or win any races when I am suffering
> "loose bowels", and I reckon that goes for a honeybee too.  There is a field
> test for nosema:  Using forceps, grab the extreme rear segment (site of the
> stinger) of the abdomen of a live bee and carefully pull.
> You should be able to pull the rectum and ventriculus (mid-gut) from the bee
> as a long connected unit.  A HEALTHY ventriculus is straw-colored and ridged
> with expandable intestinal muscles.  The ventriculus of a nosema sick bee is
> white, and swollen where the expandable muscular rings no longer show.  This
> can be done in the field WITHOUT a microscope.  Get a bee inspector to
> demonstrate..
> Nosema shortens the bee's life (less honey), it pre-ages a bee, so the bee
> might be a lousy nurse-bee or lousy comb builder, and it slows the queen's egg
> laying ability.  In other words, a good beekeeper does not want nosema in his
> apiary.
> Nosema is easily controlled by the PROPER use of fumagillin, aka Fumidil-B.
> For an established colony, you feed in the FALL 2 gallons of 2:1 sugar syrup
> containing 100mg. fumagillin per gallon (read the directions to know the
> amount of Fumidil-B).  I used the word PROPER above, because some beekeepers
> have trouble following directions.  You put Fumidil-B in 2:1 winter storage
> feed, so the bees are getting some medication all winter long into the spring,
> even including its use in larval feed of the spring's new bees.  In Maryland,
> I feed in November.
> It is suggested that all new package bees get a spring feeding of 1 gallon of
> 1:1 sugar syrup containing 100mg. of fumagillin.
> Dr. Shimanuki strongly encourages treating for nosema as just an additional
> way of preventing colony loss by parasitic mite syndrome (PMS).  My bees are
> healthy because I follow "Doctor's orders".
> You asked about "extender" patties life.  In 65 years I have never ever used
> Terra-mycin, because I want to KNOW if my bees have AFB before I contaminate
> my other apiaries, my friend's bees, my tools, my car, and all of my 1000+
> hive bodies.  However, I know that Terramycin and water (dampness) do not go
> hand-in-hand, so I would simply closely follow the label directions.  Ask a
> scientist who deals with Terramycin for a good answer.               George
> Imirie
>
 
**John Iannuzzi, Ph.D.
**38 years in apiculture
**12 hives of Italian honeybees
**At Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, 21042, U.S.A. (10 miles west of
   Baltimore, Maryland) [9772 Old Annapolis Rd - 410 730 5279]
**"Forsooth there is some good in things evil
   For bees extract sweetness from the weed" -- Bard of Avon
**Website: http://www.xmetric.com/honey
**Email: [log in to unmask] [1jan981031est]