Chris defines legitimate content...
>There has been some discussion lately on this list about carpentry,
>painting
>and computers.  In each case the discussion related to how these tools
>help
>us look after bees or learn more about bees.  As such it is fair
>enough for
>inclusion on the bee list.  If the discussion started to wander away
>from
>beekeeping eg. the relative merits of spread sheets and word
>processors,
>then it would have been appropriated ask the participants to choose
>another
>forum.
 
boulder...
I'm in complete agreement with Chris and join with him in suggesting that
multiple requests to the list in upper case demanding information(or to
cease sending information<g>) or questions about birds are likely a case
of confusion on the part of the sender.  There is probably a list
somewhere that would better serve these individuals and it is a service
to them to so advise.
 
Chris goes on to reveal that his is not always<g> so clear headed...
>This nearly happened a few weeks ago when the creationists and
>evolutionists
>got the knives out.  Maybe they have moved to another list and are
>happily
>hurling abuse and insults at each other.  If you like that sort of
>thing go
>over and join them (where ever they are) but don't bring them back
>here.
 
boulder...
To recap.
A post on bee behavior appeared on the list which, (as very often
happens) attributed the phenomenon, (succeptibility to varroa I think) to
evolution in a way that suggested this attribution was the only POSSIBLE
explanation(and, presumably, that only by looking at it in this way could
the problem be resolved).
 
A rebuttal of this paradigm,(insofar as its being the ONLY useful
paradigm), was offered by an Alaskan listmember.
 
A somewhat patronizing rejoinder was returned by the original poster at,
I believe UVic in, BC.
 
******
 
It is expected that beekeepers are at least as rational as anyone else
and to that proposition this list is dedicated.  It is unfortunate, IMO,
that some of us appear to have succumbed to the temptation to orthodoxy
that always stifles creative thought.
 
Cramming listmembers into 'creationist' or  'evolutionist' categories and
insisting they go elsewhere is the kind of politically correct ,
dogmatic, psychological bullying that should be anethema to a list
dedicated to assisting fellow beekeepers.
 
Open to beekeepers who consider themselves in either or neither camp, the
list should be a forum where any listmember can critique or present any
idea about how to better care for our charges. Those who cannot
differentiate between argument to the point and ad-hominum are the
problem---not IDEAS that are not in vogue.
 
Now, I expect Chris, like other listmembers, has simply jumped to the
usual conclusions about the content of the thread he is dissin'.  Some of
us were interested in the discussion and were sorry to see it immediatly
shut down by a chorus of 'chicken-littles'.  If discussion on how to
handle varroa, or a critique of an idea can be SHOUTED DOWN simply
because it is politically incorrect...or can only be carried on if it
uses the dogmatic code of the more academic members...   how can we avoid
the charge that the list is unnecessarily narrow in focus?
 
I don't mean to insult anyone(especially Chris who posted the best BIRD
comment to date<g>) but I want Bee-L to be as effective as possible---to
be as open to ALL listmembers as possible. All beekeepers have something
to offer us if we can keep the doors open.
 
...boulder