At 02:18 PM 5/22/98 -0400, you wrote:
 
NEWS FLASH MAIL
 
>Have you seen that we have put up McGregor's Handbook of Pollination on
our page?
> Is this something you would like to add to your collection?
>Kim Flottum, Editor
 
Kim Fottum, and The "Bee Culture Page" for sure earns my highest "4 bee"
rating for adding Sam McGregor's "Handbook of Pollination" and have earned
the time beekeepers and the public spend in checking out this book and the
respect of all beekeepers as well as my own envy for not doing it first.<BG>
 
This is the "bible" on honeybee pollination....check it out:
 
http://www.airoot.com/beeculture/book/index.html
 
Check it out and use it...you would never guess what revisions to this book
were made because of my suggestions and I will never tell. But I got a
bound signed copy of the original book for my efforts.<G>
 
Some of the information is dated, mostly that of the exotic fruits and nuts
which Sam knew from personal experience were visited by honeybees and other
insects but was not sure of the benefits from these visits and since then
some new information has been developed. I know of no errors in this book
but then I had the pleasure with a few others of the pre-publication
reading of it to look for errors.
 
I know that Sam is smiling big up there in the great bee pasture in the sky
and he would be amazed at what we beekeepers have done with the Internet in
such a short time since he left us and would be proud to be part of it in
this way. I really believe that this book on line will bring much public
traffic to it and am going to ask Kim if I can connect to it from my own
web pages and encourage other bee webmasters to do the same as it could be
the most worthy public beekeeping document on the Internet as far as the
future of beekeeping and the public support for it. And I hate the
pollination side of beekeeping but know well its value to agriculture and
the public perception of it. Opps, enough said...
 
You can tell I miss Sam as he was a totally honest bee scientist who
started out as a dusty entomologist killing insects in the old days by
covering the plants and trees and then gassing them until WWII when someone
came up with a dam stupid idea al la the "Groper" of melting up all the bee
hives in the USA for the war effort and his early work on the value of
honeybees because of pollination was in a no small part what saved the bee
industry from "Waxing the Wings of Victory" which many individual
beekeepers did by taking up arms.
 
Today when so few are left from WWII we should all reflect on a time when
it was honorable to serve your country in the service when called. So many
did and so little time is left to thank those who are still here and
remember those who did not make it home or have passed on. What a poor
place the USA would have been without their sacrifices and what a better
world we live in because of them.
 
Have a Good Memorial Day Weekend!
 
ttul, Andy-