# Nosema



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Nosema has no effect on humans. You can disinfect with clorox water.


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## JudyHainaut (Feb 1, 2009)

Thank you for the response on the nosema. The bees from my still active hive were out on Sunday and looked good. I've plugged the entrances to the dead hive. But, yesterday, I notice some diarrhea streaks on the outside of the good hive. How can I treat with fumigillin right away in this cold? I'm in southeast Michigan. I have the fumigillin and naively didn't use it last fall as I was hoping nosema wouldn't be a problem.
Judy


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Bees will take cleansing flights in winter and it will show up as the streaks as you described. It does not mean that your hives have nosema. They could, but cleansing flights and the aftermath of their signs on the hive or in the snow are normal. 

If you want to feed Fum-b now you could in a patty if you make your own. I personally would make a patty with thymol in it as it has been shown to be effective against nosema in addition to mites.


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## Allen Dick (Jan 10, 2009)

> I personally would make a patty with thymol in it as it has been shown to be effective against nosema in addition to mites.


That ism interesting. I had not heard that. Can you point me to any URLs or publications documenting this?

Thanks.


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Allend...I will get you more info tonight once I am on my home computer where such intelligence is stored.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

judy writes:
The bees from the other hive were out in the sun today and seemed healthy.

tecumseh:
I would be curious (cats being curious beast don't ya' know?) in the physical orientation of the two hives. That is, were there any differences in where the two hives sat or the orientation of the entrance?

I only ask this because some quite dated research suggest that physical orientation factors may directly effect the severity of nosema infection.

If you have fumidil??? I would begin feeding this as soon as weather permitted.


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## JudyHainaut (Feb 1, 2009)

*Hive Orientation and Nosema*

Thank you for your response. In answer to your question: Both hives are facing as close to south as I can determine. They're about ten feet apart and their entrances are in line and they are situated on the bank of the stream for my water garden. The dead hive always seemed to be overcrowded last season - large clusters of bees on the front. Can there bee too many bees going into winter?


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

judy ask:
Can there bee too many bees going into winter?

tecumseh writes:
usually no..... however, the bees clinging to the outside of the hive might also suggest lack of good ventilation within the hive (a problem that magnifies itself if you also have high humidity in the general area) and an issue which seem to be somewhat related to the older reseach to which I referred. this study (hard to pinpoint exactly... but I think it dated back to the late 1970's) suggested that internal hive environment (most expecially water) had a lot to do with how severe noseme would become (note usually when folks do these kind of experiements they infect hive with the pathogen in question).


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## Trix (Jan 23, 2009)

I read about using bleach to clean out the hives. Bee Culture talked about a ten per-cent dilution and dipping the equipement into the solution. Do you dip the frames with drawn comb into the solution too?


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## Allen Dick (Jan 10, 2009)

> Both hives are facing as close to south as I can determine. They're about ten feet apart and their entrances are in line and they are situated on the bank of the stream for my water garden.


If that is a low spot, then there could be a moist air pocket there at night. Bees do better on a hill than in a hole, even if they are less sheltered on the hill. The south side of the crest in full sun is considered best. Getting the hives off the ground a bit can help, too.


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## Axtmann (Dec 29, 2002)

Go to the website from the vaporizer guys. They also have Thymol in strips called Thymomite and on this site is a recipe for a Thymol sugar solution to prevent mould. 

I used the same recipe against Nosema with good success. I put a strip on a scale and it contains 12grams so if you need a small amount of syrup you can easy figure out how much Thymol you need for your solution.


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## JudyHainaut (Feb 1, 2009)

*Location of Hives*

I don't believe moisture is a problem. They're sitting on the top of the bank of the stream and, during the warm season, I left the bottom boards out for ventilation. They're on a double layer of concrete paving stones but I think I'll raise them a little higher this year - maybe one more row. It was hard to keep the openings clear of snow.


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## Durandal (Sep 5, 2007)

I think one of my hives got absolutely hammered by Nosema. Its gone, completely dead. We are having a break in the weather and its going to be warm for at least the next 8 days, maybe even nine. What sucks is that our bee inspector program got cut from county budget and we just had our local meeting. If I had known I could have popped some questions then.

I have a picture of the hive below which I have buttoned up to prevent any robbing.










http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/...rm/Bee Related/Disease and Pests/IMG_1480.jpg

I am going to collect samples and send them off tomorrow to the lab. I have more hives on either side of this one. None of them are showing symptoms right now and two are looking especially well well off and the other three average.

Should I begin treating the other hives are wait and see? Should I be working Fumagilin into their feeder jars? Its a sad thing and I should have been better prepared, but everything is learning experience.


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