> In this discussion, the broad statement being questioned is that N.ceranae infection alone is not responsible for colony losses.

Exactly. That is the null hypothesis. That nosema levels either do not correlate with colony loss, if if they do they are a symptom rather than the main causative factor. Basically, an opportunistic infection. 

This is a very important point. I use the analogy of the body and the gun. You find a dead body in one house and you find a gun in another house. The gun could have killed the guy, that's what guns can do. But you have to show that gun killed that guy. Even if there is a bullet in him, from that gun, he may have already been dead when he was shot. 

So the burden of proof is one the one that says that nosema is a significant factor in the loss of bee colonies and it is up to them to prove that it is. If it can be shown that it may not be a problem, then the air goes of the tires. You know, at one time people thought that wax moths killed hives, because you found wax moths in dead hives. I have also seen mice, and snakes in dead hives ... you get the drift.

PLB

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