To Lloyd, Allen, et al. re: advice for new beekeepers:
 
I just returned from  Bee Day at Colton, OR , an all-day series of hands-on
workshops for the beeginner, sponsored by the Oregon State Beekeepers
Assoc, Ruhl's Bee Supply of Portland, and a private, large-scale commercial
beekeeper ... It was great!  Many topics were covered, and many hives were
available to work with ...
 
I met and talked with a range of bee folks, both "havers" and "keepers"
(mostly "keepers" !) and several  "old timers".  It was  a wonderful
opportunity to learn.
 
Anyway, exactly what Lloyd and Allen discussed (in their 4/25 email
messages re: advice) occurred, i.e., experienced "successful" keepers
sometimes gave very different answers/solutions/procedures, etc., to the
same question.
 
However, rather than confusing me and other beginners, it actually served
to illustrate that AFTER one has some  basic experience (a few years ???),
and done lots of homework, and kept up as best one can with reliable
research, and attended club meetings, and at every opportunity observed and
listened to what the bees have to say about it all, that there are indeed
(sometimes) a variety of approaches.
 
I am really excited about all of  this!!
 
And, as one presenter at the workshop commented, some of the "slowest
learners"  he knows in beekeeping  have a PhD (that would be me) and are
actually entomologists (that would be me too!).  So, now I'm not feeling
quite so silly about my basic questions.  And, I think my learning curve
significantly shifted today!
 
Thanks to every one for your great input.
 
Sincerely,
 
Elizabeth