In his January 2008 *ABJ *article, "The 'Nosema Twins'," Randy Oliver
mentioned that under a microscope, nosema spores appear to "jiggle"  (page
64, last paragraph), though Randy doesn't know why.

My husband suggested Brownian Motion as a possible explanation (there a
Wikipedia article on it, if you're interested). The short explanation is
that water molecules are in a constant state of agitation, and will transfer
that motion to any immersed particle. Particles that are small
enough--including, perhaps, nosema spores--will be buffeted in an obvious
way. While a small particle will visibly jiggle, a larger particle's jiggle
will not be noticeable.

On a related note, the *ABJ *article gave some wonderful advice on buying a
microscope. Does anyone have advice on buying bee biology books with
illustrations, to help identify the bits and blobs one observes with those
excellent microscopes?

Thanks,
Lesli

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Lesli Sagan
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