I agree that an attempt at a beekeeping group should be made.  A few
comments:  We should try for a rec. group.  An alt. group won't carry well,
and we could always create an alt. group later if necessary (see below).
I recommend against a sci. group, since people will certainly bring up
the existance of this list and say "why isn't the list good enough?".
If we point out the newsgroup is intended for hobby beekeeping and
the mailinglist is more intended for bee biology, the argument is valid
for a rec. (recreational) group, not for a sci. (science) group.
 
> HOWEVER, be aware that the reader-base might not be there.  I suspect this
> will, by default, limit it to a group along the lines of alt.beekeeping,
> which is limiting in itself, being in the alt. net, which is not carried
> by many sites.  Why might it be limited to an alt. group?  Because of the
> voting majority needed to create a group in the "main" Usenet news groups.
 
We should try anyway (assuming the consensus is to try to start a newsgroup).
If the vote for a rec. (sci. or whatever) fails, we could create an alt.
group with not too much trouble (mention the group idea on alt.config,
listen to the general consensus such as a better name and create the group)
and most sites that carry alt. groups will carry it.  On the other hand
we shouldn't create an alt. group first, while trying for a rec. group
since many system managers will vote against a rec. group if the alt.
group already exists (esp. if just created), since it is essentially
impossible to get rid of an alt. group.
 
> Be aware that for a group to be created, the proposal must pass with a
> 100 vote margin of "yes" over "no" votes.  Can we manage to drum up that
> kind of support, and more, to balance any "no" votes that we might get?
 
There are thousands of amateur beekeepers throughout the world.  Certainly
thousands have access to Usenet.  Many may already be there yet don't
know about this mailing list, they would certainly welcome a group.
Things that shoot a group down:  Is there a better similar group (no),
is there sufficient interest (I think so), is there a maillist (this
could be troublesome, but we can point out the traffic and intent of this
list)
 
-Mike