Scot Mc Pherson wrote:

 >  In fact ALL aspects of beekeeping and in
 > fact LIFE are part of 'the darwin factor'. The question is whether your
 > practices are long term healthy or detrimental to the whole. Its a hard
 > picture to fathom, but a darwin viewpoint is a great deal grander
than what
 > most poeople are accustomed to. Eventually all weakness will be squashed,

snip
 > Through our use of modern medicine, pharmaceuticals, and
 > deterent/poisonous chemicals in various aspects of our lives and
beekeeeping
 > specifically since this is the topic of this discussion, we have actually
 > AIDED nature, but not to our benifit. We have aided nature in
selection by
 > weeding out weaknesses in the pests and diseases that afflict us and our
 > living friends. Nature, through us, has removed the weaknesses in
pests and
 > diseases. We now have pests and diseases that are no longer
susceptible to
 > our treatments, forcing us to come up with new treatments for all of our
 > ailments. This in turn is just giving nature another tool to weed out
more
 > weaknesses in our adversaries. This is darwinism, this is nature, and
this is
 > life. It is why we have evolved into humans, and why bees have
evolved into
 > bees. The lines of our most ancient ancestry were effected and
selected by
 > nature, in which each new strength helps to compete, while each
weakness is
 > weeded out one or more at a time. New forms of stress factors and
challenges
 > to survival will continue to be placed upon us and all living things.
This
 > game does not only include our friends, but also our neighbors which
happen
 > to be our challenges (varroa, cancer, polio, etc etc etc). This is
how we are
 > where we are today, both in modern medicine, and beekeeping. If we
continue
 > providing challenges for our ailments to overcome, we will continue
to see
 > our ailments overcome each barrier we place in front of it because WE
KILL
 > THE WEAK with each treatment aiding nature do her job in selecting the
 > strong. THIS IS >>> THE DARWIN FACTOR <<<. More commonly known as
evolution.

snip
 > Why would it cause hard feelings? Those of us that survive will
continue while
 > those who do not, quite simply do not. I am not here to play games, I
am here
 > to live.

It is difficult to reply to this. I saw this kind of thought back in the
1940s, that we should allow the weak to die and eventually we would have
a Master Race.

Now, it has become very personal.

Only 100 years ago if you made it into your 40's you had lived a long
life. In the 30's and 40's, 65 was set as the Social Security age, since
few lived that long and it was a fairly low risk for the Government.
Today most will live until their late 70's.

We have not changed. If you isolated a group of humans and let nature
take its course, you would quickly be back to short lived humans.

What has changed is medicine. We have a variety of means to keep death
at bay for a bit longer. In our Church, there is a girl who would have
died shortly after she was born. But medical science identified the
problem (PKU) and she is alive and beautiful, a source of joy to all of
us who know her.

Darwin would not have let her die. He was a good Christian. In truth, he
did not advocate the "survival of the fittest", but the adaptation of a
species to its challenges. Which is exactly what mankind has done. We
are not the fittest, but the most adaptive.

To discount a person or animal and not treat their problem " because WE
KILL THE WEAK with each treatment aiding nature do her job in selecting
the strong" devalues life. It also insults Darwin. It is against the
fundamental teaching of Christ, which is to do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.

I had a lump in my neck removed three days ago. Yesterday I was told it
was malignant melanoma. According to the philosophy expounded by Scot, I
should do nothing and let nature take its course.

I do not intend to.

I would appreciate your prayers.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::