Does a little spotting mean nosema?

[twb]

After a sunny mid 30's day one of my hives has some spotting on the outside of the hive from cleansing flights.  I'd say 20 spots (I did not count them).  The other hives may have only 3 or fewer spots.  Could it be a symptom of Nosema or would there be lots more spots in that case?

[metzelplex]

   usually it means dysentery caused by nosema.   metzelplex

[JP]

If you are worried you could mix ten to twenty drops of tea tree oil in a gallon of syrup. Mix for at least five minutes to allow for emulsification. It will help with nosema and chalkbroad. This information courtesy of Don, the fatbeeman.


.....JP

[Cindi]

Twb.  Yes, I think that this is a good question, I would love to know a better answer.  The first cleansing flights (and many afterwards) of the bees would show a lot of poop on stuff.  I am wondering when this would be extraordinary pooping visibilities.  This may have been addressed before in another thread, but I can be rather lazy sometimes.  Let's see if we can get a more simple answer.

So:

When would one suspect a nosema related disorder when seeing defecation on hive bodies, or just plain bees normally defecating as they are flying.....

Have a wonderful and great day, love life.  Cindi

[KONASDAD]

that seams to be a minimal amount. Many members last year, myself included, around these parts had a very long cold spell. Afterwords we all had cleansing material painted all over. We all rushed to the compuer and asked the same question you did. I wouldn't have been able to "count" the number of streaks as there were thousands on all of my hives, the snow , leaves or anything w/in 4 or 5 ft. All of my hives made it.

I am beginning to believe based on some reading and lectures that every hive has viruses, nosema and mites. If they are otherwise healthy and unstressed, usually not an issssue. When weakened, they can take over a hive and kill it. Also, hygenic bahaviour can help w/ many of these issues as well. Twenty streaks is not  many.

[Michael Bush]

Dysentry after confinement is normal in the spring.  It does not prove Nosema by any means.  They MIGHT have Nosema, but I would always expect some of that in the spring even when they don't.

[winginit]

We had -8 and then 40 degrees a few days later and now back down to twenties. I had a couple of new streaks outside the hive last week so I was watching it; today, my hive has lots of streaks, dead bees in front, spots on top. The streaks are kind of fat and rust colored. I never considered that it might NOT be Nosema, mostly because it's been increasing. But then again, we've had a long streak of cold weather and just one day of 40 degrees.

Is it Nosema? I lost my other hive, so I really want to save this one. But it's also my "natural" hive.

It's a big cluster with little honey. I made candy for them (just sugar and water) so they wouldn't starve, but it's not good. This hive never built up much honey.

[Michael Bush]

Feeding anything tends to clear nosema.  No need to feed Fumidil.   Honey would be best, but syrup will do.  Pollen will help.

[Acebird]

OK, hold back the laughter for a minute.  Yesterday I didn’t see any evidence of cleansing flights or dead bees.  So I opened up the cover and they were all around the hand hole of the inner cover and quite a few dead ones on top of the inner cover.  I didn’t know what to do so I made them a honey patty and threw in a rotten banana.  I just came from the back yard to take a look and there is poop every where in the snow and a ton of dead bees.

Hey bananas do that to me also.  Maybe that’s the ticket?

[BlueBee]

AceBird,

I have ask….what would possess you to throw a banana in with the bees  :-D

[Acebird]

I mentioned this before in a post that I made a while back that some old timers up here swear that it revives a hive that is stricken with caulk brood.  Then it got to be helpful for mites.  I don't know if it is the sugar or the potassium or what ever but it made a heck of a difference I think.  We always have a dozen or there abouts in the freezer so giving one a minute in the nuker and squirting it on the top of the inner cover is an easy thing to do.  In the summer time I am told that the bees go nuts so you might want to have protection if you try it when they are active.

[Trot]

It is also said that if one don't want to get stung - don't eat banana at least two days before one gets close to bees.  :-\

[FRAMEshift]

Alarm pheromone smells like banana.  When you throw in a banana you are telling the bees that they are under attack.

[Acebird]

It is also said that if one don't want to get stung - don't eat banana at least two days before one gets close to bees.

I'd chalk that up as a wives tail.  I eat a banana practically every day and I have gotten to the point where I can open up the cover or stand by our busy hive with no protection at all.  My fear of bees was me.  The bees we have are nothing like I expected.  I can't vouch for anyone Else's except the apiary were we got out bees.  He has a field trip twice a year for our club.  And with 20 nosey people around all his hives only two experts got stung.  Probably because they were messing with someone Else's hives.

[winginit]

Feeding anything tends to clear nosema.  No need to feed Fumidil.   Honey would be best, but syrup will do.  Pollen will help.

Feed anything? Cool! Seems to good to be true.  But I don't want to feed Fumidil so I'm going with it.  :)

I don't feed honey because I don't have any spares built up yet and I understand that my bees could contact diseases through store-bought honey (though I'm starting to suspect that they are already exposed to most diseases, it's just a matter of whether they can withstand them). I am feeding them dry sugar, and a candy made of just sugar and water, not in a candy board but similar to a candy board. I just lay it on top of the frames over the cluster.

Your site says, "Many of the Honey Bee's enemies, including Nosema, Chalkbrood, EFB, and Varroa all thrive and reproduce better at the pH of sugar syrup and don't reproduce well at the pH of honey." So how does feeding sugar syrup help resolve Nosema, or do you mean that it will usually resolve itself over time?