Seems like everybody wants to be positive!!  Well beekeeping is
hard.  Can be hot and heavy at times.  I know of beekeepers who quit
because they made too much mess extracting honey and their wives said
never again in my kitchen.  Since most of us are hobbiests, we expect
alittle something for our hard earned laber.  When you keep losing your
bees due to mites and whatever else you can become discouraged.
     We had over 100 members in our club at one time and now maybe 35
with 8 to 10 attending meetings.  Young people today have so much to
choose from including this computer stuff that I love.  With the media
attention that bees get when there is a serious stinging event or some
of the shows I have seen on TV it's no wonder people are afraid of the
bees.
    And the bee stings still hurt!  How many people want to be
subjected to bee stings?  Even most beekeepers dress up with so much
stuff on that they look like they are from outer space. (all bee sting
aren't bad)  A large portion of our population are afraid of bees.
    So, for you big guys who are making a living off of beekeeping,  my
hat is off to you, you earned it!  For all you sideliners who are
enthalled and facinated with these little creatures, it really is a
wonderful hobby.
                      (If it just wouldn't keep costing me money and
time to keep them going)
                   Billy bee