> That said, I live in a relatively short-winter area, with only a month of
> brood break at max.  I decided not to go the fumagillin route, and to breed
> only off of strong colonies each spring.  (snip)
> And when I've tracked nosema counts and prevalence over winter, there was
> no correlation with colony performance.
>
> I do not doubt in the least that nosema can be a serious problem in
> long-winter areas such as in Canada.
>

Completely agree but not with the comment on long winters. Your methods
will work even there.

I stopped using Fumidil-B after my second year of beekeeping some 25+ years
ago. Personally, I think most of the Northern Beekeepers nosema problems
are dysentery related because of winter feed. George Imire demonstrated
that long ago and it has been backed up by researchers like Bailey- that
winter honeys can be very detrimental to bees. The reason is high ash
content. In essence, the bees get cooped up for long winters and with no
January or February thaw, defecate in the hive and dysentery kicks off with
a vengeance. The beekeeper looks at it and pronounces it Nosema.

I am with you Randy. Healthy bees have always been one of the cornerstones
of beekeeping and is one reason I think I have had no nosema winter issues
(I did have one, but that was my fault- an experiment and bees from away)
over the many years I have kept bees. Plus you are not alone in not finding
any correlation between nosema counts and colony performance.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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