Nosema apis was first described in 1909 by the German researcher Enoch Zander but the spores had been shown to cause disease in the adult honey bee much earlier. The so-called 'Isle of Wight disease' in England was believed to be caused by N. apis infections until Rennie and co-workers showed that Acarapis woodi was a more likely cause of this disease. N. apis has a world-wide distribution but is not considered to be an important problem in tropical and sub-tropical climates, although information concerning its impact on bees under these conditions is incomplete. In temperate climates, however, infections by N. apis must be considered a serious disease. Large reductions in the production capacity have been reported from honey bee colonies in temperate climates and the survival of the colony during winter is affected by the disease. The problem with supersedure of infected queens adds to the economic damage caused by this parasite
Keywords
Nosema apis, honey bees, 'Isle of Wight disease', Acarapis woodi,
