Nosema Summaries and Updates

The Nosema Problem: Part 1 – It’s “Common Knowledge” that Nosema Causes Dysentery… But is it Actually True?

Contents What is dysentery?. 4 So why does everyone think that nosema causes dysentery?. 7 The sad part. 7 Nosema apparently does not cause dysentery. 7 next. 9 citations and notes. 9 The Nosema Problem: Part 1 It’s “Common Knowledge” that Nosema Causes Dysentery… But is it Actually True? First published in ABJ May […]

Sick Bees – Part 17b: Nosema – The Smoldering Epidemic

First published in: American Bee Journal, April, 2012

Sick Bees 17: Nosema The Smoldering Epidemic Part B First published in ABJ April 2012 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com The Scientific Method Effect of the Invasion Why Would Nosema ceranae Not Cause Problems? Understanding Nosema Understanding the Honey Bee Superorganism Energy and Protein Metabolism References You may have noticed that I’m doing a sort of […]

Sick Bees – Part 16: The “Quick Squash” Method for Determining Nosema Prevalence in a Colony

Infection Prevalence Sequential Sampling A Neat Little Shortcut Validation Summary (completely subject to revision) More Details Next Month Acknowledgements References 2019 Quick Nosema Prevalence Assessment Method First published in ABJ February 2012 Updated March 13, 2019 Randy Oliver Since the discovery of Nosema ceranae, I and many other beekeepers and researchers have been frustrated by […]

Sick Bees – Part 15: An Improved Method for Nosema Sampling

Author’s Note Samples from Within the Hive Soundbite Science Infection Rate So How Did We Get on the Wrong Track? How to Determine the Colony Infection Rate So What if I Count the Number of Infected Bees out of 10? An Assessment of Our Situation One HUGE Assumption Validation of the Method Update Sequential Sampling […]

Sick Bees – Part 14: An Update on the “Nosema Cousins”

Contents Worldwide Status and Distribution Ceranae vs. apis Coinfection Seasonality Sample Interpretation What if You’re Dealing with N. apis? Seasonality Recommendations Acknowledgements References Sick Bees 14: An Update on the “Nosema Cousins” First published in ABJ December 2011 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com In my last article, I described how to quickly sample for nosema. So what […]

Sick Bees – Part 14: An Update on the “Nosema Cousins”

CONTENTS Worldwide Status and Distribution Ceranae vs. apis Coinfection Seasonality Sample Interpretation What if You’re Dealing with N. apis? Seasonality Recommendations Acknowledgements References Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com In my last article, I described how to quickly sample for nosema. So what do the spore counts actually mean as far as colony health is concerned? I wrote […]

The “Nosema Twins” Part 1

The “Nosema Twins” Part 1 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in December 2007 Nosema ceranae update The debate continues as to how deadly N. ceranae is. I’ve been corresponding with Antonio Pajuelo (CONSULTORES APÍCOLAS (Broken Link!) http://www.pajuelo.info/). He notes that in Spain there are citations of collapses of colonies in autumn and winter […]

Nosema Ceranae: Kiss of Death or Much Ado about Nothing?

Nosema Ceranae: Kiss of Death or Much Ado about Nothing? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Aug. 2009 Once again I’m interrupting a series of articles to update beekeepers on breaking news that has practical applications in bee management. This time the information is about Nosema ceranae, and I felt that the readers […]