Hi Peter & all

> I am always a little leery when people talk about *educating
>  the public* about their special interest. Usually this means
> *persuade them of our point of view*.

No!,
I meant exactly what I said... educating the public... I have no wish to
bend the truth or turn everybody into a beekeeper.

It is now about 120 years since one in eight households had a 'couple of
hives' at the bottom of the garden. At that time there was no need to
specially educate people about bees and what they could and could not do.

Bees were a fact of everyday life, everybody grew up with them and to a
large extent (adequate extent) were knowledgeable about them.

Keeping a low profile indicates that there is some kind of threat or
danger... It is bad enough that many beekeepers put on 'armour plating' in
the form of highly protective bee suits. I believe that beekeepers would not
tolerate aggressive or nasty bees if they received more feedback in the way
of stings in response to inept handling. They would soon become better
beekeepers!   (I am not advocating taking risks here, I always suit up,
unless I fully 'know' the colony concerned.)

I am personally quite proud of my skill as a beekeeper, why should I skulk
about in the shadows?

As to swarming... We come back to the need for more widespread education. I
am often caught out by the bees in this fashion... I do not mind admitting
that my bees have swarmed on occasions when I would not have expected it,
but many beekeepers see it as some sort of failure and will claim that the
'swarm is not theirs'.

Swarming will occur regardless of the ability of the beekeeper, but a swarm
should not be a crisis situation... It is one where public relations become
important and it gives the beekeeper that is dealing with the swarm a chance
to re-assure the public and provide a little education.


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman
Beekeeping and Bee Breeding Website
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman