Okay, how many of you regular posters plan to leave here if and when
rec.ag.beekeeping is created?  How many plan to plaster the sign-on
address of bee-l all over the Usenet group?  Thought so.
 
>And when I work at the fairs I get
>asked, "Do you get stung?" more times than I care to answer, but
>continue to answer because I know there is a limit to the time I'll be
>spending answering simple questions and occasionally I'll meet
>someone at the fair who is truly interested in the art/craft of keeping
>bees.  But I usually spend at most a day or two a summer working my
>beekeepers association booth, and then I'm done.
 
So, is anyone forcing you to go over to Usenet and perform this function?
I have no problem answering "dumb" questions, and I certainly only log
into Usenet on an irregular basis.  But then, I also volunteer at a couple
State historical sites, and answer such questions as "Where are the tracks
that the wagon trains ran on?" on a regular basis.  With a SMILE, and without
condescending.  Personally, I *welcome* the opportunity to educate the
general public.  The debate here makes me wonder if this doesn't argue *for*
a generally available forum---clannishness breeds xenophobia, and I keep
seeing statements that look alarmingly like xenophobia.
 
Beekeeping is a dying art, I fear, and by making it into an elitist and
esoteric one, we will only hasten this process.  With education
of the general public, it's possible we may help slow this decline.  Education
is the surest antidote to fear---and a lot of folks fear bees.  And some
folks seem to fear Usenet News.  I suggest education on this topic, as well.
That is why I have tried to clarify what Usenet News groups are and are like
for those who have no familiarity.
 
>A USENET group will be
>a never ending, year 'round booth at the fair with questions asked by
>people whose real purpose for attending in the first place is most
>likely riding the Tilt-a-Whirl 'till they puke!
 
As a regular Usenet News reader, I find the general tone of this offensive
and insulting.  I have read rec.gardens for years, and find that the group
there is serious and genuinely interested, so why should a beekeeping
group be any different?  I also don't like what this implies about
folks like myself who check in and out of Usenet groups we have only
passing interest in, such as rec.birds.  It takes a deliberate action even
so subscribe to a Usenet newsgroup, so it's not as if people are simply
wandering by.  More like folks who see a sign that says  "Beekeeping exhibits"
on a building at our mythical fair, and decide to enter this relatively
unimposing structure (which is NOT on a route to somewhere else) and
see what beekeeping is about.
 
Why do people think "uninformed = obnoxious"?
 
Dumb questions are remedied with intelligent answers.
 
--Jane Beckman  [[log in to unmask]]