> We are pleased to announce Best Of Bee... As the volume has grown on
> BEE-L, a number of members have grown tired of receiving large numbers
> of messages daily, many of which are sent in error or not of general
> interest.  Many worthy subscribers have simply given up and left...
 
Thanks Al for passing that on.  That was the original announcement for
BoB.  I noticed just the other day that it is now the first anniversary of
Best of Bee (actually I got reminded by my annual bill from my provider :)
 and it got me thinking...
 
One year ago, BoB was a controversial upstart.  Our goals were to try to
satisfy a wider range of readers by filtering out some of the tomfoolery
here on BEE-L for the more time-challenged and/or sensitive among us,
while leaving the BEE-L list open to free speech for the rest of us in the
proletariat.
 
Free speech by its very nature is free (surprise) and naturally includes
everything from the erudite, polite  and informed to the facetious,
ignorant and accidental.  The right to free speech sometimes has to be
accompanied by the freedom not to listen :)  We at BoB leaped into the
breach.
 
Have we accomplished anything?  I note, looking back that BoB has relayed
about 2,100 messages  -- about 6 per day.  I wish it had been fewer, but
it is sure hard to tell which post is going to be the nugget some reader
has been waiting for.  I'm not sure how many messages passed through BEE-L
in that time, but I suspect it must be at least twice that 2,100.
Routinely,  many posts passed on to BoB are edited to ensure quick
readability and to foster steady blood pressure and tranquility in the BoB
readership.  (FWIW, I even cut my own innocuous posts back a bit -- for
BoB only).
 
I receive no complaints at all from the 440+ BoB subscribers -- even when
I request feedback -- so I guess they are mostly happy or the server is
down.  FWIW, I know they sure weren't pleased when they suddenly started
getting BEE-L again the other day, so I guess that proves something.
However, I also do know that -- while we are steadily gaining readership
on BoB -- we do lose people from BoB continuously, so maybe there is a
natural lifetime for toughing it out on a list.  Between the two lists,
BEE-L and BoB, subscribership seems to top out around 1,200 (total) and,
of course, we have to assume quite a bit of duplication between the two
lists.  I also know there are some who frequent sci.agriculture.beekeeping
and never post here.
 
Here on the BEE-L, I think most everyone -- the current crop of survivors
at least -- are happy, too.  Sure we have misdirected posts, occasional
binaries, HTML posts, excessive quotes followed by 'Ata boy", a little
pushing and shoving, and some foolin' around, but we have never had any
really serious flame wars.  Actually I can only remember two or three
(hmmm... maybe four or five) real flames and they died out fast.  It seems
everyone usually ends up friends.  And, since BoB started I think there is
a whole lot less grumbling here on BEE-L than there used to be.
 
What does the future hold for BEE-L and BoB?  I don't know.   Some day I
hope to see some form of moderation here on BEE-L to damp out the
accidental posts -- and the empty ones and the binaries, but not to stifle
free speech.  However, as an editor myself, I realise it is a job for
someone -- and not a small job.  I personally regard the BEE-L logs as a
source of fascinating and searchable information and cringe everytime I
see them diluted or polluted with long quotes, misinformation, and
binaries (including my own).
 
But then I am only one, and for others BEE-L is many other things -- and
we do have to share.  That is what makes BEE-L so vital -- the fact
that no one viewpoint dominates.  Sharing means compromising and accepting
things are not going to always go the way we may personally wish.
(FWIW, Sometimes, late at night, as I sit here at my ancient 486 2DX50, I
imagine that -- perhaps -- there are even a few misguided souls reading
BEE-L who do *not* wait in eager anticipation for my next missive.  Such
lack of appreciation is hard to imagine, I know, but I suspect it must be
true from my knowledge of statstics, human nature -- and selected readings
from my inbox).
 
While I am waiting upon the day that BEE-L is moderated, I personally find
BEE-L a real treasure and spend a lot of time panning here for gold.  That
gold, I try to refine for BoB.  Sometimes I add in a bit from
sci.agriculture.beekeeping too,  although the signal to noise ratio is
*much* better here IMO.
 
In considering both these lists and their value to myself and others, I
have to thank all the people who internationally give so freely and
selflessly of things that in some industries might be considered 'trade
secrets'.   When I look back, I have to say that participating on BEE-L
has certainly improved my beekeeping, my writing skills, and perhaps done
something for my outlook and diplomacy (some may argue).  Thank you
everyone for your patience and good humour.
 
As for BoB in 1998, we'll keep on trucking and hope that BoB continues
growing and keeps with us at least some participants with us who would
otherwise just fade away.
 
Allen