>supporting the hypothesis that nosemosis is not the main reason > of the collapse and death of beehives. >> > Nosemosis, whether by N apis or ceranae, can clearly cause the collapse and/or death of colonies--otherwise there would be little market for fumagillin. Once either nosema infects over about half the bees in a hive, that colony will start to go downhill. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is the cause of CCD. >I have a hunch that both nosemas have been around a lot longer than initially proposed As I have viewed samples of nosema in various areas over the past few years, my observations support the hypothesis the N ceranae has recently invaded. For example, at a convention in Oregon last year, the organizers set up microscopes for attendees to view bee pathogens. When I looked at the nosema sample, I was surprised to clearly see the distinctive spores of N apis, rather than the N ceranae which I expected. When I questioned where the sample came from, it turned out that it was from an archived sample of bees in alcohol from a several years earlier. Current samples generally contain N ceranae. This has happened several times. Juanse and I also observed samples of what appeared to be pure N apis when we visited Western Australia. N ceranae had apparently not yet invaded. > >perhaps -- the distinction between the two is an artifact of improved > technology and observation, and the need to publish, publish, publish... > > Or, perhaps we are simply observing the invasion of a novel parasite into bee populations worldwide, similar to the invasions of American Foulbrood, tracheal mite, various viruses, and one parasite invasion that you've surely noticed--that of the varroa mite. I seriously doubt that the invasion by varroa was an artifact of the need of researchers to publish! (That was a comment intended to be humorous). -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** 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 Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm