1.5k posts

[gavin]

We hit 1,500 posts in the last few hours. Not as many as some other longer-established fora, but a welcome achievement in any case. And every one a cracker! Thanks everyone.

G.

[Neils]

and you've got most of them you show off :p

I read this every day and it's great to see Scottish beekeeping questions being asked and then answered by Scottish beekeepers

Just dont forget us Southern Softies, we might have something worth saying too.

[Hoomin_erra]

Just dont forget us Southern Softies, we might have something worth saying too.

I doubt it. :p;)

[Jon]

Southern Softies,

If you are the southern softie then I must be the western wuss.
Anyway, all you have to do is eat and enjoy a deep fried Mars Bar to get honorary membership.

As Gavin says, this forum is quieter than some of the others but no harm in that.
I don't have the time to wade through every post on the others which have massive threads based on getting stung or interminable rants about the evil empire of the bbka.
No proper ranting here so far but it's bound to happen sooner or later.
Who will be the man (or woman) to step up to the plate and unleash a truly pointless diatribe in true howling at the moon style.

[gavin]

Who will be the man (or woman) to step up to the plate and unleash a truly pointless diatribe in true howling at the moon style.

I'm looking forward to it!

G.

[Stromnessbees]

Well, Gavin, you are not off the hook yet in our discussion on GMO vs. organic farming. I just haven't had any spare time recently to put my points and thrash yours.

In the meantime, treat yourself to this futuristic story about vicious honey-bots on Radio4, in the aftermath of CCD etc.: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t1wcn (7 days left to listen).

Doris

[gavin]

Does that mean that you'll be doing it in howling at the moon style?!!

No, I thought not. It will all be very civilised I'm sure. I don't mind being outnumbered.

Oh, and I might think that the Soil Association were simply exploiting beekeeping concerns over their 'ban the neonicotinoid' campaign last year, but I am more or less with them on queen mutilation :p

SA Organic Standards for Producers (http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=WEpzIlTlrQ4%3d&tabid=353)

G.

PS Section 15.2.8

[Jon]

We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war. ...

Peter Cook.

[gavin]

Have you been reading the Times again Jon?!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/dominic_lawson/article6719142.ece

Beats the Daily Mail anyway. Not quite sure why I said that.

P'raps my SBA activities at the moment fall into the Pilot Perkins category (sorry, that was a bit obscure), but I've been looking forward to a damn good beekeepers debate (with reasonable people, like Doris and the rest of you) on GM for years.

That should do something for the post count, when it comes.

G.

[Jon]

Have you been reading the Times again Jon?

G.

Not recently. Your link wasn't working. Something about Peter Cook perchance?
I am a Guardian and an Observer man.
I read everything online via Google News headlines and sometimes find myself on the Daily Mail site although it's nothing to be proud of.

I have gone from rabidly anti GM to extremely wary about GM in recent years.
I don't entirely trust some of the companies in control of the technology and it has implications for agricultural practices such as sharecropping which are common in developing countries.

Sounds like you are angling for the full 30 minute argument Gav.
There should be a handicap system implemented as you know more about the technology than the rest of us.
What do you see as the biggest risks with GM?

[gavin]

Hi Jon




When wind power blows, jobs will fall
Dominic Lawson

You may recall the Beyond the Fringe sketch in which Squadron Leader Peter Cook tells Jonathan Miller, the doleful pilot, that he must set out on a doomed mission because “we need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war”.

I was irresistibly reminded of this by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, in his launch of plans to cut carbon emissions by switching to “renewables” for more than 30% of our energy use. This, he claimed, would “rise to the moral challenge of climate change”.

Miliband is of the generation of politicians struggling to find a great moral cause ......



Perhaps the Mail would have been a better home for that Blog.




I have gone from rabidly anti GM to extremely wary about GM in recent years.
I don't entirely trust some of the companies in control of the technology and it has implications for agricultural practices such as sharecropping which are common in developing countries.



Have to say that there isn't much to argue about there! I'm less wary of course.




Sounds like you are angling for the full 30 minute argument Gav.
There should be a handicap system implemented as you know more about the technology than the rest of us.
What do you see as the biggest risks with GM?


On the other hand I'll be outnumbered, so that balances out my advantage?

Biggest risks?

- unrealistic expectations for delivery, it will not cure world hunger and the coming perfect storm of climate change, pathogen shifts, overpopulation, environmental degradation (but it might help)

- focusing of financial clout in the agricultural industry

- had been a risk of over-enthusiastic scientists doing risky things, but not now given the intensity of regulation

- change in allergenicity of a basic foodstuff (but see above, and this could happen from less regulated crop improvement methods anyway)

G.

[Stromnessbees]

Hi Jon

I quite like the idea of a handicap for overeducated geneticists etc. But how do we do it?
Maybe we should insist that they have a double whisky before they are allowed to write a post on a tricky topic, then they might let their guard down a bit...

Doris

[gavin]

Would I be allowed two large glasses of red wine instead? I'm almost there tonight ....

[Jon]

I quite like the idea of a handicap for overeducated geneticists

Two glasses of wine or even three is no handicap. It only gees you up.
I would make him show the receipt for a case of Carlsberg Special Brew before he is allowed to post on GMO.

It seems to have a special ranting additive, can't recall the E number offhand.

[Neils]

I think the easiest way to spark a massive argument on here is if we can persuade Jon to make a post about the amber nectar using the letter "e" in the name ;)


but I've been looking forward to a damn good beekeepers debate (with reasonable people, like Doris and the rest of you) on GM for years.
While I fall into the camp that shuffles uncomfortably around the issue of GM I'm happy to admit that it comes mainly from an emotional rather than knowledgeable perspective so unusually for an internet forum I tend to slip quietly onto the sidelines and watch with interest when it appears people who might actually know what they're talking about step up.

I know that lack of knowledge shouldn't interfere with the ability to strongly hold an opinion, especially when beekeeping is concerned but again, coming towards the end of the current season, I'm pretty clear that I'm not actually half the beekeeper I thought I was when it started. :)

[Neils]

I doubt it. :p;)
Oh yeah, I wasn't going to let that slide :p

[Hoomin_erra]

Who me?

No idea what you're talking about?

[Stromnessbees]

I know that lack of knowledge shouldn't interfere with the ability to strongly hold an opinion, especially when beekeeping is concerned but again, coming towards the end of the current season, I'm pretty clear that I'm not actually half the beekeeper I thought I was when it started. :)
Very well said, Nelly!

Or you could put it like Chris Broad on another forum:

My expertise is seasonal.
All winter I'm an expert.
During the summer I discover how much more there is to learn.


Doris