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Subject: Re: Varroa Treatments
<>From: "Paul van Westendorp 576-5600 Fax: 576-5652" <PVANWESTEN@G
<>AXY.GOV.BC.CA>
<>Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 09:05:00 -0700
<>Subject: Re: Varroa Treatments
<> Andy,
<> You are entitled to your own opinions, but your response to Andrew
<> Matheson's e-mail seems overly harsh and uncalled for. I am not
<> talking on behalf of Andrew but I believe he is, as Director of IBRA, in
<> a better position than most of us to report about some of the things
<> happening in eastern Europe. Why would the reports he refers to be of
<> no value or be inaccurate? IBRA has had and continues to have
<> supportive contacts and roles with beekeeping communities in many parts
<> of the world where most beekeepers do not have personal access to
<> information or the means to communicate with beekeepers in other
<> countries.
Tanks Paul, I needed that. I am sure Andrew is a good fellow and
though I am not a member of IBRA, I was for many years, until the
cost's got a little out of line even for a commercial beekeeper.
Yes I can and do express my own opinions and they are just that,
my opinions. They may seem a little cynical at times but if I am
somewhat of a cynic I learned it from my own 40+ years of beekeeping
experience.
<> As was mentioned recently on the BEE-L, the vast majority of subscribers
<> are associated with research facilities, government agencies and the
<> like (all of whom you seem to despise) who have the means to communicate
<> through the Internet. Of all the private subscribers, virtually all are
<> in North America where the access to the Internet is reasonably
<> affordable. Even in western Europe private subscribers pay enormous
<> fees to be on the internet. If you think you will contact east European
<> beekeepers through the Internet, you are dreaming.
No I don't despise any class of beekeepers, be they large
producers, hobby beekeepers, academics, regulators, or what ever sex,
color, race, or religion. I do find fault with the cozy relationship
some have had that has caused much harm to individual beekeepers
because of bad science and poor regulations. I also don't judge any
book by it's cover or it's price.
As far as the cost of the access to e-mail, it is very reasonable
in the US and other places outside of the academic community. Any
beekeeper or their friends can for the price of a telephone call can d/l
all the B-List and sci.agri.beekeeping mail from my own bbs in less time
then it takes to write this post. Yes, I am a dreamer or I would not
have set up the system 5 years ago, and I do get messages and calls from
beekeepers world wide. Not as many as I dreamed of, but I forget
sometime's that not all beekeeper's have modems and cpu's,..cell
phones...maybe.
<> By the way, the IBRA is not there to sell you anything for a profit.
<> The organization is there to foster beekeeping in all parts of the world
<> through the dissemination of information. To me, a pretty honourable
<> pursuit.
To tell you the honest truth I have been a small business person all
my life, never had a real job or pay check other then from keeping bees,
I Love My Boss, because I am self employed and I am no longer impressed
by non profit business, maybe because my own has been that way many
times. So I don't see anything more honorable about selling information
for a profit or SELLING it not for profit. But I must agree the IBRA is
a good service to those who can afford it. I have hope's that in the
future more will become available on-line so more beekeepers can have
access to more information at less cost if not from the IBRA then some
other source.
Thanks for your comments'
ttul Andy-
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