> ...Fumadil and Teramycin in spring and fall...
I think that if you would ask Keith today,
he would admit that the tapes are slightly
outdated in regard to the position on
Teramycin use.
The current consensus is much more rational,
in that use of antibiotics is not recommended
unless one has a detectable problem.
But Fumadil is another thing. The consensus
remains unchanged. I don't think that the
whole nosema problem is thought about enough!
Nosema can cut a colony's growth and productivity
by 1/3 to 1/2. Unless you go look for the
disease, you may never see it.
It is the first thing I think of when I see a
few weak colonies in a yard of stronger colonies.
The "examine the mid-gut test" for Nosema has a
very high false negative rate. It only shows
the worst cases. Using a microscope, and looking
for the actual nosema paramecia is the only way to
get a good handle on the extent of the disease.
The good news is that resistance has never
cropped up, as it is an Antifungal, not an
antibiotic, so you COULD use it in both spring
and fall, but I don't know anyone who uses
it in fall.
The stuff is not cheap, but like a good queen,
it is an investment that pays direct dividends
in the form of bigger colonies and bigger crops.
Nothing else except Fumadil will cure a case
of nosema, and even the advocates of the
various alternative treatments have never
claimed that their favorite treatments have
any effect. To cure an intestinal fungus,
you need to feed syrup with an anti-fungal
to get it into the bees' digestive tracts
where it can work.
