At 01:32 PM 4/18/98 +0000, you wrote:
 
>Perhaps "Practical BEE-L" could take the place of BOB; discuss pure
>bee biology on BEE-L while the rest of us discuss down to earth
>matters of beekeeping like the value of bees wax and Honey Market
>News.
 
Nothing wrong with these ideas except because of the time required to read
and follow many lists and groups some would not and the knowledge base
would suffer.
 
I look at the B-List as the cover of a book with many chapters and authors.
New books would require new authors and I fear with the limited numbers
interested in beekeeping they would both suffer. Anyway someone opened a
new beekeeping news group for hobby beekeeping and it was getting few posts
the last time I checked and even then some of these posters were from the
original Beekeeping News group.
 
Lists are not that hard to start compared to News Groups if someone wants
to do it, again its the division of a relative small base of
readers/posters that is the problem.. Heck when I offer free the USDA Honey
Market reports that costs 36$ for the print copy in the US, including
Canada and Mexico our NAFTA partners, all others must pay $72.00 US, and
about 200-300 will show up to read them, it is easy to see why when these
lists and news groups have so few readers, and maybe why the USDA does not
bother putting the Honey Reports on line themselves. Anyway I believe the
problem we should be considering is the lack of readership and not the lack
of lists or news groups. Just my humble opinion.
 
ttul, Andy-