Nosma dead out.

[alleyyooper]

Do not know if this is Apis or Creana. Last I knew Beltsville could not tell you which it is.
If they are alive you can tell some what by the fact that if it is Creana the bees stop eating. With Apis they will still eat and take fumigiln B mixed with syrup, so they get treated. With Creana they stop eating but you can treat them with fumigilin B. You spray them down good with a syrup mix containing Fumigillin, being the clean freaks they are they take the meds in grooming it off each other. Takes at least 3 treatments every seven days.

If this colony were alive they would get the Creana treatment alonbg with a feeder full of syrup and the mix.

They didn't make it so the frames will get scraped clean placed in a hive body then sat on my heat box for 24 hours. The hive bodies will get soaked in a bleach bath then scrubbed with a stiff brush. Once they are clean that way I power rince them then sat out to dry in the hot sun.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/oldgrumpy/bee%20stuff/100402_1114-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/oldgrumpy/bee%20stuff/100402_1113.jpg

:mrgreen: Al

[G3farms]

sorry to hear of the loss! sad to see a good colony die out.

G3

[tecumseh]

nice pictures Al. as I have suggested previously nosema looks much different here.

ps... guessing for certain, I would say it is nosema apis since carena shouldn't survive so well at your northern location.

[alleyyooper]

We lost 63% of our colonies in the winter 2008-9 a friend lost 348 colonies of 496. Beltsville could only say it was Nosma. No of the living were responding to the treatments for Apis. Thankfully we have Canadain friends, when trying to find help here in the and failing we turned to them. They in some ways are so far ahead of the US in bee research it makes us look backwards. Any way the university of Geluph had the answer for us with the treatments and a way to save the equipment. It was at least 6 months before I seen any thing here in the US about Creana. I think the first was out of UCLA Davies where Sue Colby went.

As for it likeing our northern climate I can't say for sure. I do know that to treat the equipment it takes heat. No one said to freeze the equipment so I am guessing cold doesn't effect it.

Our bee program at MSU is rather on the joke side now. The head of the dept spends more time in China than the US I think. I know that the MBA doesn't fund his programs like they used to.

:mrgreen: Al

[brooksbeefarm]

Al,good pictures and sorry for your lose. The heat lamp method that you use would get a better coverage, but i have always taken a propane torch ( hand held) to the inside of the hive bodies on deadouts. Don't ask me why,i guess because i'm a retired firefighter and know that fire kills :confused: . I then spray each frame with bleach water after knocking all the dead bees out of the frames that i could get out. I didn't know if it helped or not, but it made me feel better. I guess i have a cruel side to, i love to hit those flat looking roaches that hide in my hive with the propane torch when they take off running. :mrgreen: Jack

[Hobie]

Sorry about your loss, Al.

Did you feed a lot of sugar syrup? I noticed this spring that the hive I fed heavily was all streaked, and the hive I left on it's own was not. May have been the fact that the second was stronger/healthier, but I wondered if there was any connection between syrup ("fake food") and Nosema.

[alleyyooper]

No the syrup feeding doesn't seen to be related to Nosma from every bit of information I was able to gather and read. It could I supect give them disentery though.

No need to scorch the hives if they get the 24 hours of 120F, and are washed in a bleach heavy mix.

:mrgreen: Al

[tecumseh]

Hobie writes:
Did you feed a lot of sugar syrup?

tecumseh:
more than likely more related to the 'that the second was stronger/healthier' than the "fake food"... although the type of "fake food" would be important.