In the February issue of Bee Culture, my friend Richard Taylor opines that
our world has become too harried, stressful, and "fast".  He longs for the
days of front porch gatherings and regrets that we will never again have
collections of letters such as those left by Washington and Jefferson, as no
one has time to write in a thoughtful manner.  He blames much of this on the
proliferation of computers and vows to never use one.

Now, we on Bee-L have the suggestion that some will give up beekeeping if we
(beekeepers) get too technologically advanced.

As Richard Taylor is a very good friend, I have thought a lot about his
comments.  I have concluded that he is wrong.  Yes, our friendship has
survived disagreements and will continue to do so.

What did away with long, thoughtful, letters was the telephone, not
computers.  Richard has a telephone and uses it frequently.  But that is a
quibble.  The real issue is, were we (as a society or a civilization) better
off when the world moved at a slower pace?

Let's see, when the elite in society had the opportunity to write long
thoughtful letters:
* Large percentages of the population could not read or write.
* In the United States, we had slavery.  Indentured servitude was common.
* Very few had as much as eight years of education.
* Measles, polio, smallpox, and childbirth were all common killers.

I could go on, as could you.

I happen to spend a reasonable amount of time with Amish.  We talk about the
advantages to living without electricity, telephones, education beyond 8th
grade (age 13), alcohol and drugs, abortions (largely), etc.  We also talk
about the disadvantages, which mostly revolve around physical injuries and
poverty.  There is no free lunch.

They are beekeepers extraordinary, and use all the most modern methods.
Except they obviously cannot do pollination as it has evolved.

We live in a complex society, but IMHO it is the best living that our world
has ever seen.

Back to beekeeping.

Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
www.rossrounds.com