In a message dated 01/01/2008 18:57:23 GMT Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Nosema  apis populations 
exploded when bees were stressed during cold weather, or  when colonies were 
chilled.



Normally bees deposit their faeces outside the hive and this limits the  
passage of Nosema from one bee to another. However, when they are unable to do  
so, for example when shut up for transport, they will soil the combs. This has  
to be cleaned up by the bees.  One of the first jobs a worker bee does as a  
junior is to do the cleaning. The tool she uses is her tongue. The next job she 
 goes to is feeding the babies using the same tongue now contaminated with 
nosema  spores.
 
I don't suppose people will give up transporting hives to the almonds and  
elsewhere, but maybe it would be a good idea on arrival to shake the bees onto  
fresh comb/foundation/starter strips and dispose of the old comb and frames in 
a  way that bees can't get at them; preferably sustainably.  They might need 
a  quick initial feed to get them over the shock and initiate comb building.  
This is said to stimulate pollen collection (although I am not sure  whether 
this is so in the absence of brood) but in any case the grower has in  his 
orchard a colony of adult bees with no brood to look after and so they can  ALL 
(except queen and drones) go foraging and pollinating, which is what he's  
paying for.  The flowering season is probably over by the time any brood  that was 
in the hive would normally forage.
 
Shook swarms in a clean, disease-free environment frequently bounce back  and 
do better than those left on old comb.
 
Chris



   

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