When I mention to my companion that I've been thinking and have come up
with an idea, his reaction is usually: "uh-oh, how scared should I be?".
Here's hoping I won't frighten anyone... ;-)


Kirsten Traynor (ABJ editor) writes:

KT> As a scientist, I at times disagree with some of [Randy Oliver's]
KT> statements

and she adds:

KT> He has been a catalyst in translating much scientific research into
KT> terms for a lay audience and we appreciate his contributions.

Conversely, Randy Oliver (frequent ABJ author) writes:

OR> it turns out that Kirsten and I often interpret scientific findings
OR> and best writing style differently


Please allow me to digress very briefly with yet another quote (if
Aaron lets this through!), attributed to Neil Postman:

  "Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods."

Too often, people think that science consists of memorizing facts and
formulas, and that it claims to have The Truth, and, as Jerry Bromenshenk
wrote just this week (uh-oh, another quote!):

JB> [students learn to use peer-reviewed publications, then] they
JB> learn that even peer-reviewed articles are subject to politics,
JB> game playing, and not all are of equal quality.  And then many get
JB> mad - because they see that they've been hood-winked by the popular
JB> media.

It seems to me that we have an opportunity here to perform a real
public service, by showing beekeepers how science really works, or,
at least, by showing that knowledgeable people can have legitimate
differences of opinion about scientific "fact", and can argue their
points forcefully but respectfully.

I'd love to see a series of "Point/Counterpoint" articles in ABJ,
with two knowledgeable beekeepers or researchers discussing current
topics.  Perhaps Kirsten and Randy would agree to start it off by
discussing the topic that caused the recent kerfuffle (which I've
yet to read, come on, Canada Post, move it!).

Other topics which have caused controversy on this list recently are
  - are beekeepers anti-farming?
  - commercial queen rearing practices, quality of queens

I imagine that beekeeping is full of such topics, and I really
do think that head-to-head comparisons of differing points of
view could lead people to think more critically about beekeeping,
assuming that pairs of eloquent, clear-thinking people can be found
who are willing to have such discussions in public.

Well, that's my idea.  Mr. Sulu, please raise the rotten-tomato shields.


Anne, backyard beekeeper, Montreal.

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