In a way, I agree with Allen. Yes, it's rather difficult, if not impossible to correctly assess what the beginner is going through, what constitutes an "emergency," and I find a lot of beginners telling me, "but my neighbor Billy Bob said I needed to be feeding my bees."
That's largely because Billy Bob had to feed his bees. You may not. Everyone is not in the same boat and we don't keep bees for the same purposes.
What I find beginners lacking is the discernment of varying options and divergent opinions. Ask three experienced beekeepers and you'll get four opinions because one can't make up his mind, then another one will change his mind based on something he read on Bee-L.
What works for me won't necessarily work for you...but it might be a step in the right direction of finding out what does work, or what doesn't. And so I will patiently, sometimes painstakingly explain how I do it.
Then you are free to do it, or incredulously gasp, "Why on earth would you do that?" Free advice is sometimes worth what you pay for. It's a lot like mining for gold and knowing there's a lot of dirt mixed in that needs to be thrown out. Unfortunately, the beginner often doesn't know dirt from gold, or even where to start mining.
Allen is right that beginners really need to hook up with a local mentor...if one is willing to take them under their wing and not dismiss them as a "piker."
I'm not so sure we need to be penalizing beginners for asking, even as much as it is perhaps futile. If their bees died because I withheld something that might work, based on the limitations of e-mail and the thousands of miles that separate us, can I truly believe they learned their lesson? Keeping quiet almost sounds punitive, like they're not ready to play with the big boys (and girls). We all have to start somewhere.
I shudder when I think of all the "lessons" I learned over the years and was simply too stubborn, too prideful, too obstinate, too frugal to ask for help. It's kind of like driving around in circles refusing to stop and ask for directions even though your wife continues to....sorry I digress.
With the handicap of the e-mail and all the potential faults in our methods of communication, I'd still encourage beginners to ask. And I'll be quick to confess some disclaimer that this is what works for me, it may not work for you. We hear over and over that beekeeping is local. Every piece of advice needs to be taken with a block of salt.
One of my college professors used to say, "There's no such thing as a dumb question."
Somedays, I'm not so sure. Inquirers really ought to check the archives first.
But this same professor, as he encouraged students to ask a question rather than remain paralyzed in their ignorance or headed down the highway of failure, was always quick to preface his response with, "Well, all things being equal...."
And we know all things are not equal. But in a spirit of love and charity, he patiently answered our questions, probably knowing the depth of our ignorance all too well.
And communication is not equal either. Communication is a "hearer phenomena" -- it's not what I said but what you heard. Even person to person, even mentor to student, verbal or written, communication is fraught with misunderstandings. Some beginners "get it," and some just won't no matter how you explain it.
Those are the limitations I deal with. It's not a perfect world. Yet.
Grant
Jackson, MO
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L
|
