Dear Friends,

I hope I can call all of you friends. I have made many good friends on this list
and some sizable number of you I have met in person.  Others I am looking
forward to meeting someday.

There is something special about people who would take the time to sit and write
carefully crafted messages to strangers around the world about -- of all
things -- a specific type of insect.  BEE-L has been in existence for well over
a decade now and has gone thru all the predictable stages of evolution,
including some disgusting flame wars.

Some time back some of us decided, with some apprehension, and at some personal
effort, to moderate this list to eliminate SPAM and accidental or deliberate
posting of binaries and viruses to the list and other problems that arise when
1,000+ people share one communication podium.  Moderation has worked really
well.  If your computer is still working and you are reading this, maybe it is
because of the fact that several viruses were turned away.

As a by-product of moderation, the moderators have the capacity to stall -- or
refuse -- posts which are clearly inappropriate in polite company.  The
moderators are all philosophically opposed to restrictions on free speech, but
also very aware of how text messages can be misinterpreted, how some people can
just be in an ugly mood, and how a flame war can quickly develop and destroy an
intelligent forum.

Seldom do we have to refuse ill-tempered messages.  Usually just the knowledge
that someone sober is going to read and judge the posting before approving is
sufficient to ensure that good manners are followed.  That is all we expect.

We expect that those writing show appropriate respect for their readers and for
those with whom they disagree.  A little teasing is allowed, but very little,
because of the potential for misunderstanding. Expressions of outright hostility
or negative personal comment are frowned on simply because such messages
inevitably lead to an uproar that leaves everyone unhappy and causes mass
desertions by the very people whose intelligence and forbearance make the list
such a pleasure.

Recently we have had several posts which were -- deliberately or not -- quite
personal in nature and which could possibly be interpreted as direct attacks on
the people named.  We generally are not too worried about general disagreement
or even a bit of general disparagement if names are not mentioned, but when
things get personal and names are being named, I, for one get worried.

That's why I did not approve  a recent post that put rather pointed and
provocative questions to some specific researchers.  I thought the question was
reasonable, but the way it was written was bound to provoke.  BEE-L is simply
not the place to post personal challenges or grind axes.  However, another
moderator apparently saw fit to approve it.  That's the way it works around
here.  I apologise that we dropped the ball here, and ask only that you remember
that we are all interested in bees, there aren't that many of us, and making
enemies deprives us of a potential friend and ally.

allen
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What's in my internet diary these days?  Package bees, cell size, installing on
foundation, defragging, personal mumblings and much more...
http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/