Hello Humdinger & All,
>
> For example, I would not accept everything that's been said even in this
thread in blind faith.

I doubt a single person on BEE-L accepts everything found on BEE-L or the
internet in blind faith.

On BEE-L there are no agendas and only discussion. Each side of an issue
puts their position forward and after awhile the subject stops. The person
researching say "polystyrene vs wood" can go and read what has been said and
decide for his or her self.

The Bee-L archives contain opinions of over a thousand authors. Many which
have done the things you say would command your attention such as writting
books, abstracts etc.. Even the  new beekeepers opinion is welcome on BEE-L
and many new beekeepers have added  excellent input.

If I were to post that light colored clothing is best for the beekeeper I
would not get a response from the list as most are in agreement. If however
I posted that black is the best color for the bee suit I would get a huge
response saying *not so!*.

When researching the archives look carefully at the percentage which agree
and disagree.  If only one person is saying the black bee suit is best and
there are ten posts which say light colored clothing is best you can assume
light colored clothing works best.

If I wrote a book and said "Always where black bee clothing" would the
statement be correct just because the statement was in a book. I have seen a
few  statements (not many)  in bee books which in my opinion are incorrect
and I can prove  my position by research. In fact I have pointed out two
errors on bee-l by famous researchers in two of the best bee books ever
written . In many ways BEE-L goes places a single author book never could.

Sincerely,
Bob