To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Varroa Treatments
 
<>From: "Paul van Westendorp 576-5600 Fax: 576-5652"              <PVANWESTEN@G
<>AXY.GOV.BC.CA>
<>Date:         Fri, 19 May 1995 09:05:00 -0700
<>Subject:      Re: Varroa Treatments
 
<>    Andy,
<>    You are entitled to your own opinions, but your response to Andrew
<>    Matheson's e-mail seems overly harsh and uncalled for.   I am not
<>    talking on behalf of Andrew but I believe he is, as Director of IBRA, in
<>    a better position than most of us to report about some of the things
<>    happening in eastern Europe.  Why would the reports he refers to be of
<>    no value or be inaccurate?  IBRA has had and continues to have
<>    supportive contacts and roles with beekeeping communities in many parts
<>    of the world where most beekeepers do not have personal access to
<>    information or the means to communicate with beekeepers in other
<>    countries.
 
  Tanks Paul, I needed that. I am sure Andrew is a good fellow and
though I am not a member of IBRA, I was for many years, until the
cost's got a little out of line even for a commercial beekeeper.
 
  Yes I can and do express my own opinions and they are just that,
my opinions. They may seem a little cynical at times but if I am
somewhat of a cynic I learned it from my own 40+ years of beekeeping
experience.
 
<>    As was mentioned recently on the BEE-L, the vast majority of subscribers
<>    are associated with research facilities, government agencies and the
<>    like (all of whom you seem to despise) who have the means to communicate
<>    through the Internet.  Of all the private subscribers, virtually all are
<>    in North America where the access to the Internet is reasonably
<>    affordable.  Even in western Europe private subscribers pay enormous
<>    fees to be on the internet.  If you think you will contact east European
<>    beekeepers through the Internet, you are dreaming.
 
      No I don't despise any class of beekeepers, be they large
producers, hobby beekeepers, academics, regulators, or what ever sex,
color, race, or religion. I do find fault with the cozy relationship
some have had that has caused much harm to individual beekeepers
because of bad science and poor regulations. I also don't judge any
book by it's cover or it's price.
 
   As far as the cost of the access to e-mail, it is very reasonable
in the US and other places outside of the academic community. Any
beekeeper or their friends can for the price of a telephone call can d/l
all the B-List and sci.agri.beekeeping mail from my own bbs in less time
then it takes to write this post. Yes, I am a dreamer or I would not
have set up the system 5 years ago, and I do get messages and calls from
beekeepers world wide. Not as many as I dreamed of, but I forget
sometime's that not all beekeeper's have modems and cpu's,..cell
phones...maybe.
 
<>    By the way, the IBRA is not there to sell you anything for a profit.
<>    The organization is there to foster beekeeping in all parts of the world
<>    through the dissemination of information.  To me, a pretty honourable
<>    pursuit.
 
   To tell you the honest truth I have been a small business person all
my life, never had a real job or pay check other then from keeping bees,
I Love My Boss, because I am self employed and I am no longer impressed
by non profit business, maybe because my own has been that way many
times. So I don't see anything more honorable about selling information
for a profit or SELLING it not for profit. But I must agree the IBRA is
a good service to those who can afford it. I have hope's that in the
future more will become available on-line so more beekeepers can have
access to more information at less cost if not from the IBRA then some
other source.
 
                   Thanks for your comments'
 
                        ttul Andy-