Bee Books, Bee Clubs and this forum

[harvey]

Hello All,  I want to say thank you!!  Everyone on here says read bee books, join bee clubs and take what is said here for a grain of salt. 

   I have scoured this forum for information and yes there are numerous opinions about everything.  Bee books are opinionated as to who is writing them and as far as clubs they are full of opinions as well.  Fact,  my bees know more than me! 
   
   I want to thank everyone here on this forum for their information.  I have learned more from the trials and errors and successes from people here that actually are working bees everday than I have while reading books.  I have received encouragement and advice here that is not in the books!   All resources considered This is the place to learn, ask questions and share thoughts.  Hard to do that in a book and some of the bee clubs or  individual members don't seem to have time for beginners!   Last words:   Thank you This forum is great!

[buzzbee]

Harvey,
I think all the members here appreciate your kind words. You are so right about this being a great place and you are absolutely right about the books being as opinionated as any member here.
 The members here range from beekeeper wish to be yet, to the very experienced. But we all have one thing in common,we were or are newbees at one time or another. The people here go to great lengths to  offer advice on what has or has not worked for them and can often prevent someone from making a costly mistake they would not have realized.
The best way to thank the members here is to share your experiences and tribulations with a newbee down the road.
So many of us are all alone when starting the beekeeping venture that this  is a great place to seek advice when there is not a club or mentor available.
 And with many bee clubs,they are not having meetings when you need help the most.But there is always someone here ready to help any way they can.
You are off to a good start realizing that the bees haven't read the books!!   :lol:   Good luck!!

[Natalie]

Now that is nice to hear that you got so much help here. So many on this board are really good about taking the time to answer the questions we all ask.
Sometimes the same questions have been asked over and over and they are very gracious about answering them each time.
I learned so much here, honestly I don't know that I would be where I am with the bees if it wasn't for this forum.
I know for a fact that I would not have caught a swarm or done a cutout and I have done both now only because I learned so much and had the support I needed from the members here to do them when the occasion arose.
I also appreciate all the links I have gotten here for purchasing bees, queens and equipment etc.

Aside from the members here that help out so much Beemaster himself  is the one that allows us to access this wealth of information here and doesn't charge a fee and doesn't allow advertising here to pay for it. I personally love the commercial free aspect of this forum.
He also never actively solicits money from the members here so it just occurred to me that all the new members that just recently joined may not even be aware of the donation button at the top of the homepage where you can use paypal to make a donation towards the upkeep of the forum.
I hope John doesn't mind me pointing this out but I assume as membership increases so would the expenses to operate the forum.
He also has a really great beekeeping course and other interesting stuff on Beemaster.com if you have never checked it out.
He has really put alot of work into it.
So not to sound sappy but your post reminded me of how much this forum got me through my first season of beekeeping and reminded me to show my appreciation with a donation.
I also like to come here for the friendships I have made, its nice to be able to come here and just chat and have a few laughs with the beemaster family.

Its really great to hear that the new members feel the same way.

[luvin honey]

Ditto, Harvey! I will continue to read books and try to find more local beeks, but this forum teaches me about 30 new things every day!

[homer]

I know that I have found that in the local bee club here, there aren't enough opinions.  It seems that everyone in the club read the same book on beekeeping and that has become the beekeeping law.  When I  will bring up another, or many other options to a certain situation, they all act like it is impossible to do something other than what they are currently doing.  It's kind of frustrating, but I still go sometimes.  If I could only convince people to sue this forum I know they'd learn TONS more about the hobby.

[beemaster]

Thanks everyone for such great feedback, it is awesome to hear (5 and a half years from the start of the forum) that it continues to be a place where people come to interact in so many interesting ways about beekeeping and all topics.

I have learned a great deal from Natalie, whether I have mentioned that directly or not, she has opened my eyes even further to the world of spiritual and conscious events that occur in one another's lives. She has had so many interesting adventures of mind and spirit that I stand in awe at how receptive she is to forces that often pass invisibly by many people. I too like to think I have had several encounters with the inner part of the Universe, the tiny events that often escape us are often the clear signals that direct the way we trek through life and ultimately who we become. So, just in case I have never said it, Natalie - thank you.

About the forum, for those who have interest in the BEHIND THE SCENES stuff, we recently had to expand our backup capabilities by getting additional and redundant bandwidth to backup our main files which are totally the most important protection we can have in case of hackers trying to implant code into our forum and crash the system, taking us down and irretrievably losing years of data. This expansion of space easily was covered by our member contributions as was the annual renewal of our Ventrilo Chat Server which so many members use every single day. Meeting Bud1 through Ventrilo and having him host the Southern Regional Beemaster Gathering was an honor - we are now planning a 2nd Gathering to Macon, MS with a slightly different twist - due to the member turn out, the increase number of members hoping to attend from around the country and across the globe, this coming Spring gathering, Bud will be hosting the FIRST official Beemaster International member gathering - more plans to follow. That is just one example of the power of the forum, and it does greatly help to have financial resources available for ANY need that may come.

I never like to talk the exact cost of operating the forum, I do however love to acknowledge the kind donations of members who intrust us with using their contributions to make Beemaster Forums always free (which no matter what it always will be) and just as importantly, always be commercial free. I don't think anything says that WE ARE DEDICATED to our members MORE than keeping the site free of any sponsorship. Being 100% funded by contributions is a viable way to operate a forum no matter what anyone tells you. But it helps tremendously too to have people like Zunibee.com give us extremely generous allotment of free server space and also offer our members an incredible deal on hosting their sites - that last part isn't a commercial, it is a thank you!

As we near 5000 members, and with only having a small CYCLICAL DIP in monthly NEW MEMBERS (every July is slower than other months, it is the time people are deep into the hobby, not gearing up for Spring or prepairing for Winter) so July tends to be a bit slower in member growth - but we have had a remarkable 12 months and 2009 has been banner in growth. It shows in the postings and replies and general activity is always booming.

I thank Natalie again (humbly this time) for mentioning the donations tab - I don't make mention of it (minus the link in all my posts  ;) ) I hope people find the tab in their surfing the pages and I believe when the time is right if anyone in this tough economy can afford to help, then they will if the forum is of value to them.

I know doing all we can as a mod staff makes most of everything seem seemless and the membership is a great contributor to our ability to moderate efficiently and effectively without little notice or disruption to the membership. I promise that not a day goes by that I don't ponder how wonderful all this is and how I know it will be around and well cared for long after I am free of this body. Having such faith in so many talented and caring people is a wonderful feeling.

So, I just wanted to thank all of you for these kind words, it has been and will continue to be a growing force that will educated, involve and entertain people, I pray for decades and beyond. The foundation is solid, the principles are sound, the dedication is inspiring to witness and I can only hope that I have done a good job to help get us here, even with all my humanly faults and occasionally hissy fits, it all works out well and I take great pride in being a part of something so so special. Thanks again to all.

[Natalie]

John, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful sentiments, they truly mean alot to me.
Thank you again for this wonderful forum.

[beemaster]

Natalie:

I forgot to mention, welcome to 1000+ posts!!! Awesome :)

[Jim134]

 
Fact,  my bees know more than me! 
   
 

  After 50+ years of beekeeping bees sill know more than me  :-D




     BEE HAPPY Jim 134  :)

[Joelel]

Hello All,  I want to say thank you!!  Everyone on here says read bee books, join bee clubs and take what is said here for a grain of salt. 

   I have scoured this forum for information and yes there are numerous opinions about everything.  Bee books are opinionated as to who is writing them and as far as clubs they are full of opinions as well.  Fact,  my bees know more than me! 
   
   I want to thank everyone here on this forum for their information.  I have learned more from the trials and errors and successes from people here that actually are working bees everday than I have while reading books.  I have received encouragement and advice here that is not in the books!   All resources considered This is the place to learn, ask questions and share thoughts.  Hard to do that in a book and some of the bee clubs or  individual members don't seem to have time for beginners!   Last words:   Thank you This forum is great!

Yes Harvey bees do know how to keep their house (hive) in order.We must make sure we don't mess it up and help them in what we can.