>The cause of the disease is thought to be
fungal and is treatable with Ketoconazole,
a broad spectrum fungicide.

A Google search for Ketoconazole only  brought  around 10 hits and half in 
Chinese.

 Myself and friends think Ketoconazole is perhaps being provided by the
government researchers to control nosema ceranae. In China instead of
telling the masses about what is going on in other areas of the world one of
their researchers comes up with a new name such as *empty nest disease*

(disappearing disease or colony collapse disorder ?).

Instead of the Chinese government paying a company around a 100 bucks a
bottle for fumigillin ( how many container loads would it take to treat the
Chinese bees for nosema ceranae? Each year? )the Chinese researchers come up
with a drug available cheaply in China to provide to its beekeepers.

The above is simply a guess.

However perhaps our researchers need to test kotoconazole to see if the drug
will control nosema ceranae in honeybees.

Chloramphencal ( found in many Chinese export products) came to be used in
the same way I have been told.

We never quite figured out what exactly Chinese beekeepers were treating for
with the government provided chloranphenical but some U.S. researchers
thought possibly AFB.

Many of us monitor what the Chinese beekeepers are doing but frankly believe
they are at least a decade behind U.S. beekeeping ( but only an opinion).

bob


Ps. China started reporting high bee losses the same time as the rest of the 
world but has kept very quiet about their losses.

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