Dear George,
 
In order to verify whether or not it is convenient to treat with Fumidil-B against
Nosema you should feed some hives with medicated syrup and keep some untreated hives as
controls. If at the time of starting the experiment both groups of hives have about the
same population, brood, stores and queens of the same age you will be making a fair
assessment. My experience of the past five years feeding regularly Fumidil-B has been
extremely rewarding. The problem with Nosema is that it is a disease that doesn't kill
hives, although it dramatically diminishes the overall performance of the colony.
 
As far as John Iannuzzi's statement, how can he know whether there is no need to treat
for Nosema if he never did so in the past 38 years. He can't provide valid comparative
data. The same applies to a previous post from John where he says he never requeened a
hive in 38 years...because he sees no advantage in regular requeening. To say something
is better or worse you should have tried both and compare the respective results, if he
never requeened a hive how can he say it is not necessary to do it.
 
Regards.
 
Martin Braunstein
Malka Cabania Apicola
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
 
 
----------
> From: John Iannuzzi <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Nosema and Fumidil B
> Date: sábado 21 de febrero de 1998 21:48
> 
> Dear George,
> I don't consider nosema a serious bee disease and have never treated
> for it in 38 consecutive years of bkeeping, that is, I've NEVER used
> fumagillin or its relatives. In short, as a hobby bkeeper, I'm not
> interested in any type of medication, although I will admit that I
> do use Apistan strips for Varroa mites.
> Jack in Maryland
> 
> On Sat, 21 Feb 1998, George W Imirie wrote:
> 
> > John:  I have long considered Nosema as the UNTREATED disease, because most
> > beekeepers have no idea that their bees are sick with it.  Much (too much) has
> > been made about the deposits of bee feces all over the front of a colony is
> > THE indicator of nosema disease in the colony.  Dysentery (diarrhea) is a
> > condition of nosema, BUT dysentery can be caused by many other things other
> > than nosema.  It is too bad that Basil Furgala of Univ. of Minn. is dead,
> > because he was a foremost authority on nosema.  It has bee estimated that 2/3
> > of all the bees in the U. S. have some nosema infestation present!  TWO
> > THIRDS!  WOW!  I can't do much work or win any races when I am suffering
> > "loose bowels", and I reckon that goes for a honeybee too.  There is a field
> > test for nosema:  Using forceps, grab the extreme rear segment (site of the
> > stinger) of the abdomen of a live bee and carefully pull.
> > You should be able to pull the rectum and ventriculus (mid-gut) from the bee
> > as a long connected unit.  A HEALTHY ventriculus is straw-colored and ridged
> > with expandable intestinal muscles.  The ventriculus of a nosema sick bee is
> > white, and swollen where the expandable muscular rings no longer show.  This
> > can be done in the field WITHOUT a microscope.  Get a bee inspector to
> > demonstrate..
> > Nosema shortens the bee's life (less honey), it pre-ages a bee, so the bee
> > might be a lousy nurse-bee or lousy comb builder, and it slows the queen's egg
> > laying ability.  In other words, a good beekeeper does not want nosema in his
> > apiary.
> > Nosema is easily controlled by the PROPER use of fumagillin, aka Fumidil-B.
> > For an established colony, you feed in the FALL 2 gallons of 2:1 sugar syrup
> > containing 100mg. fumagillin per gallon (read the directions to know the
> > amount of Fumidil-B).  I used the word PROPER above, because some beekeepers
> > have trouble following directions.  You put Fumidil-B in 2:1 winter storage
> > feed, so the bees are getting some medication all winter long into the spring,
> > even including its use in larval feed of the spring's new bees.  In Maryland,
> > I feed in November.
> > It is suggested that all new package bees get a spring feeding of 1 gallon of
> > 1:1 sugar syrup containing 100mg. of fumagillin.
> > Dr. Shimanuki strongly encourages treating for nosema as just an additional
> > way of preventing colony loss by parasitic mite syndrome (PMS).  My bees are
> > healthy because I follow "Doctor's orders".
> > You asked about "extender" patties life.  In 65 years I have never ever used
> > Terra-mycin, because I want to KNOW if my bees have AFB before I contaminate
> > my other apiaries, my friend's bees, my tools, my car, and all of my 1000+
> > hive bodies.  However, I know that Terramycin and water (dampness) do not go
> > hand-in-hand, so I would simply closely follow the label directions.  Ask a
> > scientist who deals with Terramycin for a good answer.               George
> > Imirie
> >
> 
> **John Iannuzzi, Ph.D.
> **38 years in apiculture
> **12 hives of Italian honeybees
> **At Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, 21042, U.S.A. (10 miles west of
>    Baltimore, Maryland) [9772 Old Annapolis Rd - 410 730 5279]
> **"Forsooth there is some good in things evil
>    For bees extract sweetness from the weed" -- Bard of Avon
> **Website: http://www.xmetric.com/honey
> **Email: [log in to unmask] [1jan981031est]