Mike Stoops <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >If it is a question previously addressed here, then we need to educate the questioner in the intricacies of how to query the archives for an answer before posting the question to the group. I agree, but I disagree with those that respond to a posted question by saying ‘refer to the archives’ or ‘google it’ . IF they take the time to respond in the first place, IMO they should give a brief answer followed by a ‘refer to the archives’ for further info, or keep their nose out of it. From my observation, I would say that over 90 percent of the topics discussed here have been discussed before in one form or another on bee- L. Now wouldn’t it be boring if all those questions were simply answered with ‘look in the archives’? We would be reduced to posting abstracts if this were the strict rule. And I will say, that I have been seeing ALLOT of REPEATS of abstracts posted on bee-L that are known to be already in the archives, -which, could this be assumed to be neglect of proper use of the archives, that they have posted repeat material? >In fact, thinking about it, it might be a good idea to post a detailed directive on how to use the archives once a month for all the new membership that has come on-board since the last posting of the archive directive. That is a great idea! Also, it would be good for beekeepers to get together and set up beekeeping search engine that includes the ‘1000 best informative beekeeping sites‘, as selected by a panel of experienced queen breeders, commercial beekeepers, bee scientists, organic beekeepers etc. There is a function in Google to permit this: http://www.google.com/coop/cse/ On a custom search engine such as this, you can be assured that the new bee will find answers from quality informative sites that are recommended by the best in the business. To send a new bee out on their own into the wild internet for their information, is IMO, dooming them to a high instance of failure, due to the immense proportion of inferior information out there. Best Wishes, Joe ******************************************************* * Search the BEE-L archives at: * * http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l * *******************************************************