Reflecting on past contributions

摘要

One more month - one more article. It's a classic day for writing a bee article. It's still Autumn for me; the leaves have just begun to change. It's raining and the rain sounds are being punctuated with the distant rumble of thunder - just a Fall shower. I have been writing articles for bee magazines on days like this for nearly 30 years. I don't even have copies of all of my articles. There is no "complete set" available - as if anyone wanted one. I estimate that I have written about 200 - 250 articles. Though deadlines are relentless, I have not grown tired of pecking them out. What can I tell from all these past articles? Can I see trends that I could not see as I was writing them? Can I tell where bee things are going? Answering my own questions - I can tell you that except for mite and pest worries and our greatly increased use of plastics, not much has changed in beekeeping. I can see no trends in beekeeping past nor beekeeping's future. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. We still worry about honey crops. We still relentlessly look for the best queen - and we have not found her. We try to control swarming and we worry about our industry's numbers. Interestingly, the most profound change that I have experienced in writing for you is "how I write for you."