Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 12:07:45 EST Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Welcome to BEE-L I revised the BEE-L WELCOME file which I had anticipated would have been sent to those CONFIRMing their BEE-L subscriptions. Unfortunately the file is only send to new subscribers. For the benefit of all subscribers I am posting the BEE-L WELCOME file here. I hope everyone will read it in its entirity. Sincerely, Aaron Morris Welcome to BEE-L, which is perhaps the oldest, continuously running LISTSERV discussion list dealing with the "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology". Prior to participating on BEE-L, subscribers are encouraged to become familiar with the tools that support this LISTSERV list as well as being aware of the guidelines for making submissions to the list. Please read this entire document before jump- ing into the fray! Consider saving this document for future review. And again, welcome to BEE-L! First and foremost, BEE-L is a LISTSERV list. LISTSERV is a software package written to support many different dis- cussion lists, only one of which is BEE-L. It is imperative that subscribers understand the difference between LISTSERV and BEE-L - LISTSERV is the provider of services to list us- ers. Requests for list services must be sent to LISTSERV. A summary of LISTSERV user commands is available and can be retrieved by sending a single line of mail to: LISTSERV@cnsibm.albany.edu that reads: GET LISTSERV REFCARD LISTSERV will return a short (less than 300 lines) summary of commands sufficient for most users. Subscribers are en- couraged to get, read and keep LISTSERV REFCARD Distinct from service requests of LISTSERV are submissions of discussion to the list. Submissions of discussion, called posts, are sent as mail addressed to: BEE-L@cnsibm.albany.edu BEE-L is a moderated list, meaning that ALL submissions to the list are first sent to the list moderators for review and approval prior to distribution to subscribers. To as- sist with "round the clock, spanning the globe coverage", the four BEE-L moderators reside in three countries on two continents. Any one of the BEE-L moderators may approve a submission, whereas for a submission to be denied general distribution, ALL moderators must withhold their approval. Very little communication takes place between the list mod- erators regarding individual submissions, for the most part "votes" are cast silently. If a moderator cares not to ap- prove a submission he or she simply withholds approval. It only takes one approval for a submission to be distributed, whereas it must be a unanimous decision for a submission to be denied. Provided that the guidelines for submission are followed, anything submitted is approved. However, many submissions are rejected because they do not follow the guidelines for submission as stated herein. Guideline for BEE-L Submissions 1. Do not include excessive quotes of previous submissions. If you must quote previous postings, include only what is necessary to make your point. Submissions that in- clude the entirety of previous posts will be rejected without comment or notice. 2. Submit your posts as TEXT ONLY! There are many sub- scribers whose mailers will not interpret text markup languages and to them submissions which include markup characters (such as HTML) appear as gibberish. Sub- missions to BEE-L must be in the lowest common denomina- tor for all subscribers, which is TEXT ONLY! Posts submitted to BEE-L in markup languages will be rejected without notice. 3. Binary file attachments are not allowed on BEE-L. Simi- lar to markup languages, many subscribers have mailers not able to decipher binary file attachments (such as MS Word attachments). Submissions with binary attachments are never approved by the list moderators, most times without notice. Suggestions for binary attachments in- clude deciphering them at your end to include in the text of your submission or making them available at your site and advertising their availability on BEE-L. Please verify your URLs. If detected, submissions with invalid or nonexistant URLs will not be approved, possi- bly without notice. 4. Do not send personal responses to the entire list. If Bea Keepr posts something to the list that inspires you to write to Bea, DO NOT send your personal response to BEE-L, send it to Bea! Only send to the list that which you want read by everyone. Submissions to the list that appear to be personal responses are rarely approved by the list moderators, often without notice. 5. Trolling (name calling, baiting, incivility) is not tol- erated. Heated discussions are allowed, after all we're beekeepers and may not always agree. But as Rodney King put it, "Can't we all just get along?" This is a grey area up to the discretion of the moderators, but offend- ing submissions will be rejected without notice. 6. Do not send LISTSERV service requests to the list. Re- quests of LISTSERV for list services must be sent to: LISTSERV@cnsibm.albany.edu LISTSERV service requests sent to BEE-L are never ap- proved by the list moderators, no notice is given and the requested service is not provided. 7. Submissions to BEE-L must be related to the "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology". SPAM is NEVER approved! Furthermore, submissions must be "Informed"! BEE-L is not intended to be a substitute for beginning texts on keeping bees. If your question is a basic beekeeping question, it has probably been asked and answered on BEE-L before, perhaps many times. Answers to frequently asked questions may be found by searching the BEE-L archives. Submissions of frequently asked questions may be approved or not, with or without notice. Approved frequently asked questions are often met with cries of "Search the Archives!". Cries of "Search the Archives!" are sometimes approved to drive home the point, but rarely. 8. Submissions to BEE-L should not contain misinformation. Although slow to admit it, the moderators do not know it all. However, blatant misinformation is rejected with- out notice. Realizing there is a fine line between new, thought provoking ideas and misinformation the modera- tors strive for leniency in their judgment and prefer to err on the side of thought provoking ideas. Reader be- ware that if you read it here it ain't necessarily so! 9. BEE-L is not a marketplace. Product reviews are wel- come. Product announcements are tolerated. Repeated announcements and marketing are less welcome proportion- ately to their frequency. Advertisements may be re- jected without notice. 10. Lastly, long signature files are discouraged. A guide- line of five lines is suggested. Life histories and driving directions to your doorstep or place of business are strongly discouraged and are often rejected without notice. The BEE-L moderators and subscribers thank you in advance for adhering to these guidelines. We hope you find your BEE-L experience informative, engaging, educational and most importantly, fun!