>> If the bees can fly, they leave before the tell tale traces appear, but 
>> we have had staining which was tested and was N.C..

>> Maybe, but how was cause and effect proven?

> If you look at the literature, it seems that the issue is not that NC is 
> not associated with dysentery, but that dysentery has not been observed. 
> So now it has been observed... As far as cause and effect, if it is the 
> only factor for problems in the colony, it would be an observable effect 
> which was the case.

Proving cause requires more than observing an association, since association 
can be causal, opportunistic, or simply coincidental.

An association, only, seems to be what you report, so I still do not see 
that proof.   This is not to say the observation or interpretation  is 
wrong, but merely that it remains unproven.  Lots of things are obviously 
true, but remain unproven.

Was this a casual field observation of one colony and subsequent 
identification of NC present, and careful elimination of all other possible 
primary causes?

Real proof would seem to require many more observations and preferably a 
controlled experiment where healthy hives were inoculated and observed and 
controls were also kept -- especially since credible researchers who 
presumably have done inoculations have reported the opposite. 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L