From:          Allen Dick <[log in to unmask]>
Organization:  The Beekeepers
Last Revised:  January 31, 1997
 
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We are pleased to announce Best Of Bee, a new way to read BEE-L.
(BEE-L is the internet mailing list for discussion of bees, wasps,
etc.).
 
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.
 
Therefore, to lighten the load, several list regulars (who merrily
read *everything* anyhow), have agreed to select the best material (in
their opinions) and re-post it to a new list, called Best of Bee (The
'-l' is left off due to changing standards on the net regarding
punctuation in list names).
 
Since it is pretty well unanimous that BEE-L should not be split or
censored, this provides a way for those who wish to read the list,
but be selective and not be exposed to flames,and trivial or
misdirected posts to enjoy a filtered version of BEE-L.  Currently
about 75% of the posts to BEE-L (or less) are being re-transmitted on
BestOfBee.  This varies from 0% to 100% on a given day.
 
If you would like to try this new free service, simply send email to
[log in to unmask] saying
 
join bestofbee
 
You will shortly start receiving messages.
 
IMPORTANT Additional Information For Current BEE-L Subscribers:
---------------------------------------------------------------
If you get BEE-L currently, these messages from BestOfBee will be
*duplicates* of *some* the ones you get from BEE-L presently, but
some may be edited to remove excessive quotes from previous messages
and bad formatting or gratutous material if they are otherwise
suitable.  Many messages from BEE-L will not merit repeating on
bestofbee, since they are chatter, or redundant.
 
After you are satisfied that the new list is working and get a feel
for the degree of filtering, you may wish to send a message to
[log in to unmask] saying SET BEE-L NOMAIL and thereafter
read only the filtered messages -- if you like the way it works.  You
can get a full BEE-L log for comparison any time you like by sending
email to the same LISTSEV, saying get BEE-L log9701b, (for example)
where '97' is the year, '01' is the month, and 'b' is the (second)
week of the month, or you may read them from Adam's Sunsite archives,
the address of which is on my home page.
 
IMPORTANT: You will still need your BEE-L subscription if you wish
to post (or retreive BEE-L logs), since the only way to get a post to
Best of Bee is through posting a message on BEE-L.
 
We expect that soon you will be able to search these selected Best of
Bee messages using a web brouser after a number have accumulated.  This
will give a searchable 'opinion base'.  We may add some edited
material from old BEE-L logs too.
 
PLEASE NOTE: *No one* will be able to post to BestOfBee (regardless
of what the welcome message says -- I haven't had time to fix it)
except the three moderators, so direct all replies to Best of Bee
articles to BEE-L where they will be read and perhaps selected for
re-transmission.
 
We hope this service helps more people to enjoy BEE-L, and that those
who wish to post will do so freely now without fear of offending
those who desire decorum and lower traffic levels.
 
We are also open to constructive comments and ideas for improvement.
 
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper
VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada T0M 1Y0
Internet:[log in to unmask] & [log in to unmask] Honey. Bees, & Art
<http://www.internode.net/~allend/>