>>To cite beesource as a "source" is a joke. There is more garbage there >>than anywhere else I can think of. > Maybe beesource is a joke to you Peter but a former moderator from BEE-L > started beesource and now the list has over 4000 members compared to the > 1000 on BEe-L. Actually, the 10,000 mark was passed recently. How many are active (or even still alive), I don't know. That is the problem with many of the other boards, they just keep collecting registrations and seldom or never clean up. BEE-L has automatic housecleaning annually, and required people to respond to stay subscribed, or did until recently. As for the quality of the posts there, the range is wide. There are some knowledgeable regulars, but also a tremendous amount of really questionable "information" presented as fact and noise. The problem with such open boards is that lies repeated often enough become almost undistinguishable from the truth for many, and there are many uncritical people out there. I notice that some self-promoting "authorities" who would not last ten minutes on BEE-L run free on BeeSource and attract a following. And, Bob, I don't think I need point out that numbers are no indication of quality or factuality. In fact, the reason that such boards attract large numbers, beside the fact that people register multiple times and are never removed, is that many people simply cannot or will not meet the standards or stand the scrutiny that a list like BEE-L brings to bear on writers. People attack BEE-L for not accepting any tomfool idea that comes along without giving it a good sniffing over. That is what makes BEE-L such a great resource and also an acquired taste. Also BEE-L is delivered by email automatically. Reading the forum presentations is a hassle IMO, and keeping up to date is a full-time job, since the emails stop if you do not visit the forum often. Not so with BEE-L. BEE-L readers never have to visit via the web interface, although many do (and they are uncounted as BEE-L readers unless they register). > I rarely post and read but if I do only on the commercial beekeepers > section. Barry started the commercial beekeepers section so we could > discuss our issues without having to deal with beekeepers * without* > similar interests always putting their 2 cents worth in. That does not seem to stop some of the worst offenders. On BEE-L BS is cut off fairly quickly. > The cell phone is the grapevine of commercial beekeepers today. Second the > internet and email and third is bee meetings and gatherings in commercial > beekeeping areas. Generally, all the other methods are time-consuming. BEE-L delivers the meat of matters with little effort on the part of readers. If anything worthwhile is going on elsewhere, it usually shows up here pretty quickly, but the noise is fairly well filtered out. We rely on members to post here if they see anything interesting out there. Bob, you and Peter add a lot to the list. Thanks. The the rest out there, please contribute and don't let the occasional rejection bother you. (Be sure to follow the guidelines) These guys don't let rejection stop them, and they do definitely get rejected periodically. Thanks. Visit the link at the end for list access and subscription changes and www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for the guidelines. *********************************************** 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