Breaking news … in 1963 N. apis has recently been found to be common in Brazil where it was believed to be distinct from the European and North American parasite, because infection could be diagnosed only by finding spores in the midgut cells of adult bees which behaved normally even when severely infected. Contrary to popular belief, however, this is characteristic of infected bees anywhere. Infection shortens the life of bees but even this effect is lessened by adequate protein (pollen) in the diet. Indeed, infected bees fed pollen live longer than healthy ones not fed on it. Although nearly twice as many spores develop in bees fed abundant protein as in those not receiving it, their effect is mitigated by the rich protein diet. Accordingly, the severity of infection in a colony is probably better measured by the percentage of bees infected in a sample than by the number of spores that the sample contains. HONEY BEE PATHOLOGY By L. BAILEY Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, England *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Access BEE-L directly at: http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L