A gut parasite disease of adult honey bees, or nosemosis, caused by the microsporidian parasites Nosema apis and, since its spread from Asian to western honey bees in the 2000s, the more virulent Nosema ceranae, that damages the intestinal lining, impairing digestion and shortening the lifespan of infected bees, often without obvious external symptoms until a colony's population has already begun to collapse. It is considered, alongside the Varroa mite, one of the leading contributors to elevated honey bee colony losses recorded in North America and Europe since the mid-2000s, and it is managed mainly through colony nutrition, requeening and, where approved, antifungal treatment.
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Nosema disease, caused by microsporidian parasites, is a widespread gut disease of adult honey bees.
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1. Nosema Disease (Wikipedia)
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Nosema apis is a microsporidian, a small, unicellular parasite recently reclassified as a fungus that mainly affects honey bees. It causes nosemosis, also called nosema, which is the most common and widespread of adult honey bee diseases. The dormant stage of N. apis is a long-lived spore which is resistant to temperature extremes and dehydration, and cannot be killed by freezing the contaminated comb. Nosemosis is a listed disease with the Office International des Epizooties (OIE).
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A gut parasite disease of adult honey bees, or nosemosis, caused by the microsporidian parasites Nosema apis and, since its spread from Asian to western honey bees in the 2000s, the more virulent Nosema ceranae, that damages the intestinal lining, impairing digestion and shortening the lifespan of infected bees, often without obvious external symptoms until a colony's population has already begun to collapse.
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