>There was a recent exchange on the Irish List following the publication of >the article on FGMO in The American Bee Journal... >Imagine if you will, 20 beekeepers gathered together, just like on this >List. And then imagine that they all dish out their theories on how good >or how bad FGMO is , just like on this List. What, may I make so bold >as to ask, is learned? Thanks for that, Tom. That's what many of us have been wondering, and part of why I, for one have withdrawn from managment of BEE-L. It is also why, years back, I ran BestofBee and may bring it back again. I do believe, however that these lists do serve a purpose. They allow discussion between people who would otherwise never meet, and expedite exposure to new ideas. To choose an example related to what you mentioned above, as we all know, Dr. Pedro first brought his ideas to this list when he was using waxed paper strips, and it was on this list that he first learned of the Burgess fogger, and that oil fog had been used previously in California. From here, he has perservered and developed a technique that seems to work, although it still -- AFAIK -- requires use of cords and may or may not be practical on a large scale. Hopefully your list will come up with some answers and we will hear the better comments here as well as the ones you provided. One of the problems with these lists is that matters are discussed and then people forget or new people come along and do not know what has been discussed. Others tire of educating newcomers and cease responding, other than to say occasionally, "Search the archives." We do know, however, that for every person who posts to the list, there are twenty or more that just read and think. We know that because ideas and quotations from these lists show up in magazines and in email between researchers. Sometimes a respected researcher will de-cloak and join in. It is easy to focus on the assinine comments and ignore the occasional glitters of golden ideas, but even after a decade, I still find BEE-L a worthwhile read. What do we learn? I've learned a great deal, both about bees and about people. Participation in BEE-L has been and continues to be highly educational for me, and entertaining to boot. allen http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/