"The pathological consequences of Nosema ceranae in Apis mellifera are
not well known. In the following only Nosema apis is described. Both
types are presumably very similar." see: previous post

> The hypothesis that soiled comb is the primary source of infection seems to be generally accepted ... BAILEY investigated old comb as a transmittor of Nosema apis between colonies, and concluded that soiled comb is the primary source of infection. ... comb replacement reduces nosema disease level in honey bee colonies. The present investigation supports the findings of BAILEY that old comb contributes to nosema disease. ... Data suggest that broodrearing contributes to the spread of the disease ... This supports the hypothesis of BAILEY (1955), where spores are ingested by the bees as they clean combs for the expanding brood nest.

from: Fries, I. (1988) Comb replacement and Nosema disease (Nosema
apis Z.) in honey bee colonies. Apidologie. 19: 343-354.

* * *

> Doull and Cellier, (1961) carried out a two year survey of the incidence of nosema disease of the honey bee in South Australia. They concluded that the disease, either in the form of a few infected bees or of spores on the combs, was present in all hives throughout the survey.

from: Nosema Disease: Literature review and three year survey of
beekeepers by Michael Hornitzky March 2008 RIRDC Publication

ref: Doull, K. (1961) Nosema disease. The Australasian Beekeeper 62: 228-235.

* * *

Farrar (1947) provided evidence of the effect of transporting bees by
finding a very high percentage of infected queens, as well as worker
bees, in 'package bees' (bees which suffer long journeys from the
south to the north of the U.S.A.). Usually the queen of a colony
evades infection because she is fed by other bees and does not
normally feed from infected combs, but she may be more readily
infected when the colony is excited and the disease is being
transmitted rapidly. In practice, therefore, it will be advisable not
to transport infected colonies ...

from: BAILEY L, . (1955). THE EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CONTROL OF NOSEMA
DISEASE OF THE HONEY-BEE.  Ann. Appl. Biol. 43 (3), 379-389.

ref: FARRAR C,. L. (1947). Nosema losses in package bees as related to
queen supersedure and honey yields. J. econ. Ent. 40, 333.


-- 
Peter L Borst
Danby, NY  USA
www.people.cornell.edu/pages/plb6

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