nosema

[crazy diamond]

I have a split and it has nosema. Should I treat it were it is, and then move it to my bee yard OR put it in my beeyard and treat it there? I don't know if it will spread to my healthy hives?

[Michael Bush]

How do you know it has nosema? How do you know it isn't simple dysentary?

http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#nosema
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/slide36.htm

[crazy diamond]

MB, I think they have nosema, b/c the hive has yellow/brown streaks on the hive. Do you think not?

[Michael Bush]

I wouldn't consider that proof of Nosema. Bees that have been confined (by the weather or the beekeeper) often get dysentary from holding it. The only definitive proof would be to look at the gut contents under a microscope. Field dressing a bee and looking at the gut is the common method for diagnosis.

http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/slide39.htm

[sqkcrk]

I wouldn't consider that proof of Nosema. Bees that have been confined (by the weather or the beekeeper) often get dysentary from holding it. The only definitive proof would be to look at the gut contents under a microscope. Field dressing a bee and looking at the gut is the common method for diagnosis.

http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/slide39.htm

I've never done this. Have you? What's the process and what do you look for?

I remember something about selecting an adult worker bee, grabbing the stinger and pulling out the guts. Or do you have to grab the last segment of the abdomen? Do you have to use a microscope or is the color of the intestines good enough?

I don't have my copy of "Pests, Preditors and Diseases of Honeybees" here in SC. That probably has a good description of nosema and/or dysentery.

[Michael Bush]

>I've never done this. Have you?

Yes.

> What's the process and what do you look for?

Grab the head and the abdomen and pull the bee apart.

>I remember something about selecting an adult worker bee, grabbing the stinger and pulling out the guts.

I just pull on the abdomen.

> Or do you have to grab the last segment of the abdomen?

That's what I did.

>Do you have to use a microscope or is the color of the intestines good enough?

The microscope would be the definitive answer. The color of the intestines is the common method.

The intestines should be yellow or brown and transparent or translucent. If they are white and opaque that is an indication of Nosema.

"The hind gut and digestive tract of diseased bees are chalky white or milky white." -- http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/slide39.htm

[MichaelW]

Crazy Diamond,

There is quite possibly a severe increase in Nosema in TN and surrounding areas this year. Lots of bees where lost in TN this year, but we don't have CCD. So far, each investigation has showed up known diseases/problems and Nosema is one of them. Starvation is common as well.

This is all from stuff I've heard. TN could really use an improvement in the proliferation of current, accurate beekeeping information.

I'd recommend you just go ahead and treat them with Fumadil. With the freeze, there won't be any risk of getting the Fumadil in your honey crop, due to the likely lack of a honey crop.

I haven't treated with Fumadil in 5 years but I am this spring because I have one hive that came down with it real bad this spring.

I would move it to your yard and treat all colonies with Fumadil, unless you have already treated them.

[Jim Fischer]

> The microscope would be the definitive answer.
> The color of the intestines is the common method.

The "color of the midgut" approach results in many false
negatives. If you sample enough colonies, and look
through the microscope enough times, this will become clear.

The good news is that even the cheapest child's microscope
works great for this application. So go buy whatever plastic
toy is sold at Mall-Wart or Target for $20.

And they are easy to see, as nothing else in a bee's gut
is going to look like a paramecium.

[hummingberd]

Can you use a dead bee, or do you have to use a live sample? I don't have much experience "wrangling" bees, so I have a feeling to could be a bit tricky. Though I suppose you could crack the cover open and grab the nearest victim on the top of a frame....

[Lance]

Does anyone know if uv light from the sun destroys Nosema? If the outside of those boxes are covered with streaks will the sun render it harmless?? Just something I thought of.

[Robert Hawkins]

Live sample, Sorry. And I don't know about uv but once those stains dry they'll die within hours. They need to live in a liquid.

Hawk