Peter and others
 
Our data from winter 2006-present show a very high incidence of Nosema  
ceranae - its virtually in every operation that we've sampled that  also reported 
colony collapse.  We did not find it in all colonies,  even in CCD cases - but 
we've recently changed our sampling protocol.  
 
Originally, we took one sample of bees from a mix of bee ages.  Now we  take 
one sample of very young bees, and one of the oldest bees.  This makes  a big 
difference in detection - the Spanish observation that N. ceranae occurs  in 
bees of different ages, depending on the time of year and the stage of  
infestation (initial, well established, etc.).
 
Lesson learned - if you see dead bees on the ground in front of the hive,  
don't assume pesticide kill, or that it was some rare virus.  We've found  that 
these bees may be loaded with N. ceranae.
 
We look at all samples for Nosema.  We send samples to Robb Cramer in  
Bozeman for PCR.  Last summer, fall, winter, Robb did not find any N.  apis.  But 
this spring, he found both N. apis and N. ceranae in some of the  samples we 
sent - so N. apis hasn't disappeared.  As always, it tends to  show up in the 
spring.
 
We're currently tracking various treatments - will know by end of summer  
what worked.
 
Jerry
 



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