>You should know me better by now. Of course, I consulted before making such a statement. 

I only know what I have read.  That's adequate to know that I don't give much credibility to anyone or anything you consult.  For all I know you could be consulting a toy from a Cracker Jack box.

People seem to forget the word discernment, and what it means.  Where is critical thinking?  They also forget that random information (or misinformation) is not knowledge, and wisdom and insight seem to be archaic concepts.

>Observe is defined thusly

>"1. notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant"

Which is an incorrect definition.  If observe meant the same thing as perceive, then perceive also means to observe.  When we look at it like that, we see that perceive is similar, but it is not quite correct.

It is also important to consider the source, when someone presents information/misinformation.  It helps us to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'll offer a couple examples.

My Aunt married a guy with a PhD in entomology, specializing in honeybees.  When I was little, Uncle Chuck was up at Guelph, and then they were out at Green Bay, and then Pullman, Washington.  The guy has probably forgotten more info about honeybees than I will ever know.
Chuck's dream was to be a commercial beekeeper, and he ended up buying a stationary 1000 hive honey producing operation in South Dakota.  As a teenager, my first experiences getting inside a hive was out there when visiting.
In 4 years, he went from 1000 hives down to 400 hives, and he ended up going bankrupt.
During that 4 years, my Aunt was a secretary for the president of a large insurance company, and she paid the bills while Chuck played with the bees.
I think 5 of my cousins ended up being slave labor for Chuck during their teenage years, working 12 and 14 hour days.  (I worked for a summer on an 800 hive stationary honey producing operation.  Me and another guy pulling honey, and 2 other guys extracting.  196 pound per hive average, and we got it done in 8 hour days.  So I have to ask why Chuck was so inefficient.  From what I have learned from my cousins, it seems that he was trying to micromanage every single hive.)
Chuck had an affair, and got divorced.  He tried working in the private sector for a few years, but couldn't hack it.  Last I knew he was working at UNLV in their honeybee program.

Would anyone get advice from Chuck on bees?  Would you want to copy his successes?  He might be good for finding out what not to do, but I certainly hope that I do not achieve his "success" in beekeeping.  (I've been going longer than 4 years.  My operation is profitable, and my hive numbers grow every year.  So I must be doing something right.)

Occam's Razor says that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.  Occam's Razor says Chuck may have excellent academic credentials, but he lacks the wisdom and insight to understand and apply the information.

Another guy I know of worked for a commercial beekeeper for a while, but decided to make a career change.  Occam's Razor says he couldn't handle real work.  So the guy tried selling beekeeping equipment for a while, but that didn't work out.  Occam's Razor says the guy doesn't have business sense.  Then the guy tries being a commercial beekeeper, but that doesn't work out either.  Occam's Razor says you can't cut it without hard work and business sense.  Surprise, surprise.  Finally, the guy gets a welfare job involving bees at an academic institution. (Sadly, the government has subsidized academia to the point that all academic jobs are a form of welfare.)  A welfare job where no work is required, and nothing is produced suits the guy well.  He tries to inflate his ego by masquerading as a knowledgeable, experienced beekeeper to less "educated" and successful beekeepers.

Does anyone want to repeat the successes of these 2 examples?  I know that I certainly don't.  I would caution anyone about accepting any information about beekeeping from people like this.  

When I was younger, I took a course on successful investing and money management.  One of the key points the course taught was to surround yourself with successful people, and to also distance yourself from unsuccessful people.  At that time, approximately 4% of the population earned $100K or more a year.  The course made a good point.  If your goal was to earn $100K a year, do you seek out and find the 4% and get financial advice from them, or do you get your financial advice from the 96% of people who DON'T know how to make the big bucks?

Folks, discernment is crucial.  You don't take your car to the mechanic whose own vehicles don't run.  You don't hire the plumber whose pipes are leaky.  Some folks even say not to trust skinny cooks.

Seek out and find the successful beekeepers, and listen to them carefully.  Understand the difference between information, knowledge, wisdom, and insight - find the wheat, and distance yourself from those who are throwing chaff everywhere.  Do some critical thinking!  Don't believe something, just because some "expert" said it.

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