At 07:57 AM 7/7/2010, you wrote:
> > Michael Palmer posted on another forum that the sugar method raised nosema
> > counts on hives in Maine. This was a study done by Tony Jadczak and his son
> > Alex on 184 hives in Maine and NY. Maybe Mike will post the study here.


I believe the survey was conducted in 4 apiaries, 2 in NY and 2 in 
ME. Pre treatment, all colonies were positive for Nosema sp. Maine 
colonies averaged 3,790,909 spores/bee. New York colonies averaged 
980,250 spores/bee. The range was 50,000-28,350,000 spores/bee. The 
New York trial was conducted from 2-14 - 3/13/08. The Maine trial was 
from 3/6 - 4/8/08. 184 samples were processed.

I find it interesting to note that the spore levels increased more in 
the sugar board groups than in the controls. I'm not a fan of using 
granulated sugar to prevent starvation or as a moisture absorbent. 
While I would certainly use dry sugar to save a starving colony, 
there are better ways. Proper Fall preparation and timely feeding of 
thick sugar syrup is the best method to prevent starvation. Feeding 
should be finished early enough in the Fall to ensure the bees have 
properly ripened and capped the feed. Feeding syrup too late in the 
Fall is a huge contributor to moisture problems in the winter.

Tony and Alex Jadczak's survey:

Apiaries were separated into 4 treatment groups.
1. Control
2. Sugar Board (not candy board)...moistened granulated sugar packed 
into a candy board rim...no heating.
3. Sugar Board with 126 mg Fumagillin.
4. Fumagillin Dust - 4 weekly applications of 31.5 mg/colony.

New York Results:
Control: -83K spores/bee (8/12 decrease, 2 no change, 2 increased)
Sugar Board: +1.1 million (6 decreased, 2 no change, 4 increased)
FSugar Board: -600K (+300K - 2 outliers)
Dust: -1.1 million spores/bee

Maine Results:
Control: +5.4 million spores/bee
Sugar Board: +12.8 million spores/bee
FSugar Board: -5.6 million spores/bee
Dust: -3.9 million spores/bee

Pooled Data:
Control: +2.6 million spores/bee
Sugar Board: +6.7 million spores/bee
FSugar Board: -2.53 million spores/bee
Dust: -2.45 million spores/bee

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