My question is about the newly found bee pathogen, Lotmaria passim. The information that is on the internet is very scarce and only describes it from an academic point of view, listing different techniques that are used to discover it. I would like to know, how does the beekeeping community look at this pathogen? Is it considered a real threat? Is there a connection between winter losses and this pathogen? What can be done at the apiary to control its damage? Also, has it been confirmed that it works in favour of the Nosema ceranae destroying part of the bee’s gut and facilitating the Nosema infection? Another question is about its geographic origins - as far as I understand, it was detected first in the USA but is also found in Belgium - is it possible that other countries in Europe may be susceptible? As a rationale for this question, I want to point out the enormous overwintering losses in my country. It is difficult to draw any conclusions based on the internet sources as to whether there is similarity between what happened here and what happened in New Zealand when Lotmaria passim was discovered. *Hristo

Ooh, quite a few questions there. I will try to make sense of what I coul