> My reading of the study is that they found nosema ceranae infection to be an indicator of colony heath (the more advanced the infection, the healthier the bees are).  If there is any new actionable information in this study, it seems to be that we should inoculate our bees with nosema ceranae...no?

No. The explanation of this is that nosema is further advanced in the healthy colonies because they live longer, giving nosema a longer time to develop. As I have oft noted, ferreting out cause and effect is difficult, but not impossible. I think they are elucidating the concept that high levels of particular microorganisms should not be taken as an indicator of declining health and could be the exact opposite. Healthy colonies tolerate these levels better than colonies that are weakened by some other factor. And it appears that after six years of looking for some new dynamic, it may be that the old problem is the one that is most likely to cause colony collapse. In fact, when colony collapse was first publicized, I thought that there was nothing much new in that, I had seen thousands of colonies collapse -- from the varroa/virus complex.

PLB

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