>However, there is no conclusive evidence to affirm that Nosema is an
important factor in the recent honey bee die-offs worldwide.

I'd tend to agree with this assessment, the key words being "conclusive"
and "important."

Depending upon one's biases, one could easily argue the case either way.
My current assessment is that the negative effects of nosema infection,
whether by apis or ceranae, are well documented.  When we speak of colony
die offs, this means that a colony passes a tip point, and spirals
downhill.  I suspect that nosema of either species can help to shift that
tip point, and likely contribute to the positive feedback loops leading to
colony mortality.

That said, the varroa/virus complex appears to be a far more important
factor, followed by nutrition, and then pesticide issues (dependent upon
actual exposure levels).  I'm not sure where I would rank nosema in that
hierarchy.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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