I've been away from my desk since last Thursday, so I missed the
discussion about 'splitting' BEE-L.  All I can say is, history repeats
itself.  For all the gory details send mail to:
                  [log in to unmask]
with a single line in the body of the mail that reads:
                  GET BEE-L LOG9403
and read everything posted about beating a dead horse.  Everything said
since last Thursday about splits of this (or any) list was said in
April '94 and it was said then with more flair and gusto!
 
Arguments for splitting were basically along the lines of reaching
more of the masses, versus arguments against splitting which were
along the lines that the quality of a top notch mailing list will go
downhill due to the increased traffic.
 
I don't care to resurrect the beaten, dead horse, but I feel somewhat
vindicated in my then rather strongly voiced concerns about the
quality of the discourse on this list.  At the time the feelings were
that the simple 'beekeeping' discussion would migrate to sci.ag.bees
and the loftier discussion would stay on BEE-L.  Unfortunately
the result of the split has been that both discussion lists have become
'chatty' and most of the 'leading edge' discussion has ceased or gone
elsewhere (although I know not where).  Gone are the Peter Kevans and
Keith Delaplanes, and in jeopardy are a lot of the more knowledgeable
posters who have realized that this forum is not what it used to be.
 
This is not to say that this list is no longer useful, nor is it
intended to start a war of flames to rival the great Chicago fire.  It
is merely acknowledging that the level of discourse on this list has
undeniably declined.  Prior to the split of BEE-L, the list agreed that
proper use of the "Subject:" header should be sufficient to keep the
list functioning well.  A header of "Science" would be a sentinel to the
researchers and a subject heading of "Beekeeping" would be a sentinel to
those who reside outside of the ivory tower.  Unfortunately, this
protocol was not followed (much like including your geographic location
in your signature), sci.ag.bees was split off, the foretold decline of
BEE-L has come about, the cross posting to both list has come to be,
subscribers have come and gone, and everything old is new again.
 
I, like others, have considered leaving this list as the noise to
content ratio grows.  I find that my inclination to respond is directly
proportional to the new things I learn from this list and that my answer
to more and more questions is "RTFM - Read Text FIRST Man!".  I have
thought this often when contemplating composing text for the FAQ.  Does
this list exist because subscribers want to facilitate learning about
bees or does it exist because subscribers are enamored to the medium and
don't care to pay dues by reading texts when they are able to engage in
social discourse?  Rather than jointly compose a new text on keeping
bees, perhaps the FAQ should be a reference to chapter and verse in a
good text (perhaps _T_H_a_t_H_) and discourse should be reserved for
information not available in textbooks.  Perhaps this would work for
a while, until the subscriptions turn over and there is a new crop of
newbies and a decreasing number of veterans and repeat questions will
be new for the majority of subscribers.  Ultimately the burden of wading
through the content of this list falls on the subscriber.  The longer
one stays on this list and the longer one stays in beekeeping, the less
information will be new and the less will be the return on the
investment of time spent separating the wheat from the chaff.  It is
always a loss when a veteran beekeeper leaves the list and the entire
list suffers if/when that happens.
 
And just when I've decided that the payback is no longer there, I'll
come across some pure discourse such as the memories of a senior
beekeeper who has more beekeeping in his little finger than I'll ever
have, and I'm glad that this forum exists!
 
So, split the list?  I think not.  Will BEE-L ever return to its golden
days?  Again, I think not.  Is it time to bail out?  No.  Will better
homework and use of "Subject:" headers and locations in signatures and
SET BEE-L DIGEST and reading the FAQ FIRST, and better netiquette
improve this forum?  You bet it will!
 
Nobody asked, but that's my 2 cents worth.
 
Aaron Morris
Charter member of BEE-L