Hi everyone.
    Can someone help me with a problem I am having with my hive? It
seems due to the bad weather we just got here in California, my bee's
have come down with what I think is Nosema. This hive has had a very
hard life. Last summer I discovered it. It was a feral colony that was
almost wiped out by a total varroa infestation. I was able to get rid of
the mites, but the hive suffered greatly. The brood emerged as sick
little bee's with deformed wings. The colony died off so quickly that
allot of the brood died from the lack of bee's to keep them warm. The
queen was also badly impacted. I fed them, and gradually they started to
come back.
     I requeened, and treated them with terramycin. By the time I got
all of this accomplished, I treated with fumidil b. The instructions
state that the hive should get two gallons of the syrup, however the
bee's at that time would only take about 2 quarts.
     Now after all this rain they were cooped up in their hive for
weeks, and I have found little brown trails on the front entrance and
sides of the hive. I also saw many bee's crawling around in front of the
hive unable to fly. They will climb up the surrounding brush to die.
     I have put their feeder back on with treated syrup. Everything I
have been able to find in books and the Internet say to use Fumidil B.
for the prevention of Nosema, but nothing about what to do when they
have Nosema. The hive has ventilation holes, but I noticed some of the
combs where they have stored pollen, have a white mold growing over it.
I have removed some of the frames, afraid that this might be the source
of the Nosema. Some of the frames of capped honey stores have also a
coating very thin of some white mold. I have wiped lightly across these
frames, but I don't want to remove them, because I'm afraid of leaving
them with not enough honey to make it through the rest of the winter.
     If anybody can give me some tips on what I can do to get rid of the
Nosema problem I would be grateful. I think that they just did not get
enough Fumidil B. What can I do if they won't take enough syrup? Is it
OK to mix Fumidil B. with grease patties?
 
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
BRIAN HENSEL
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Santa Rosa, California