I find it more difficult to even read what appears on Bee-L, as I am both
forced to feed excessively due to warmer and longer Indian Summers each
year, and I am ramping up for the Christmas season, where we add beeswax
gift items 

James,  great thoughts,  but get your priorities straight!  Reading a bee-l
post is always more fun than a Holiday fair!



To this actual topic though,  I have given much consideration lately.  Even
several offline discussions.   The question is "what is bee-l now and what
do you want it to be?  With a secondary question of who is "the you" in the
previous statement.

Looking at bee-l there are 5-7 major posters and maybe a dozen minor ones,
and hundreds (Aaron may chime in) of lurkers.  My question is why are they
lurkers,  and the answer to that is simple (based on MANY conversations with
lurkers who are good friends)  the vast majority is intimidation. Most are
intimidating by the main names here,  and scared of looking uninformed.
I see many of the same friends posting regularly on BS, and joining the
conversation there,  but here they are silent.  Sometimes its because they
don't understand friendly debate,  other times our replies,  even well
intentioned ones come off wrong.  Such as a recent comment to me.  I
completely understood it,  but to a reader I was chided for a dumb comment.

So the question is,  should this be a place for casual discussion as well as
"informed debate" on Science?  Where is the line?  Should one need a degree
in Biology to be able to discuss?  What is the goal and future for Bee-l?  
I see the number of researchers in the bee field going up,  but
participation here dropping?  How do we get researchers to come and ask
about what beekeepers need and want?  How do we get newbies to get involved
in discussion?

Fully understanding Randy and Peters point about not wanting to be teachers,
but "informed discussion"  but with todays email and communication so easy,
is that really the point of a bulletin board?

Like it or not, I may be able to argue with Randy and Pete on some level,
but bee biology at their level is out of the question.  Does that mean I am
not qualified to argue the theory?  Those are questions that need to be
addressed to determine what happens here.

Personally,  I am grateful that most of you tolerate and participate in
discussion, especially when you think I am wrong!  Without that debate
there is no point to reading here.  How do we encourage more?  Or do we??
Some may recall Christina and I debating epigenetic at length a while back.
I learned more in that discussion  that I can relate,  even though we still
disagree on some parts of it!  Without some of my "dumber" comments,  we
would not have gotten Richards great explanation on partial kill theory and
resistance.  Luckily I have thick skin.....

Right now we come of as argumentive and dismissive to a lot of folks, good
bad or ugly,  its reality.  To promote more discussion we need to drag in
some others inputs and topics...  And no,  I don't know how to accomplish
that,  or if its even welcome.  That's the question that really needs
addressed in my opinion.

I do realize we don't want some of the nonsense that goes on in BS,  but do
we really want to only be at a doctorate level discussion?


Charles

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