More Bee Drama

[aggienaut]

   
So an amusing argument has developed in the comments to the most recent OC Register article on live removals.

   Someone by the name of "Beekeeperbob" posted specifically attacking the OC Beekeepers Association and extermination of any bees. So Dave had me write back (under his name). There followed an interchange where, in my opinion, I hilariously kicked "bob's" ass. He says Dave has no qualifications, I (writing as Dave) give an overwhelming accounting of Dave's qualifications, he cites INCORRECT information about bees (that he can "tell the difference" between Africanized and European bees by plain sight -- utterly impossible), and I cite quotations from the American Bee Journal saying he's wrong. He then says "anyone can quote from some book" ...

   The whole thing's getting kinda stupid. But its also oh so fun to run circles around someone who is being an ass but doesn't know what they're talking about.

READ THE ARGUMENT HERE! (Read the comments by "Beekeeperbob" and "DavidMarder")


Highlights! (its all so good, what to choose to highlight!!)
(numbers added to help you connect assertions and responces responses. I put the assertion tag after the relevant statement and the response tag before the relevant statement. Underlining added to really hilarious bits)

DavidMarder: [Since the newspapers always like to run the number of actual bees in a story for a more impressive number, for example "estimated 50,000 bees!" in this story, I decided to do the same and said we were the biggest beekeeper in the county (true) with "7,080,000 bees" (60,000 (typical hive size) times 118 hives)]

BeeKeeperBob: ...statements made by davidmarder ... much if not most is not true in my opinion. He has little if any credible information to back up his claims . ... his reputation as a 'beekeeper' is sketchy at best. (a1)

DavidMarder: [An overwhelmingly impressive list of Dave's qualifications. Also I wish I'd asked what of what I said he was saying wasn't true] (r1)

BeeKeeperBob: The true beekeepers and preservers of the bees in orange County are a group of experienced beekeepers who know the difference between africanized bees and those that are not. (a2)
   We don't have to have had lunch with Arnold to prove ourselves. (a3)
   I don't know nor do I care about your credentials. My credentials are simple, to help those that want to preserve bees and help them prosper. (a4)
   You won the election for president of the OCBA, How many ran against you? Interesting. (a5)

DavidMarder: Silly. (r4) Well if you HAD credentials (you listed a goal, not a credential) you would know that (r2) it takes someone certified in biometrics to measure microscopic differences in length to determine if a bee is africanized or not (or DNA analysis). I can't do it by seeing bees in flight and neither can ANYONE else. If you think you have superpowers that EVERYONE with serious academic and real world experience would say are impossible, its time for you to consider that maybe they are right. [PWN!!] [plus some quotes from the American Bee Journal supporting that Africanized Bees will NOT always be acting unusually aggressive]
   ... (r5) And yes when I ran there were other candidates. Are you just taking shots in the dark now? [seriously]
   [in response to an accusation that Dave made his employees come to an OCBA meeting and they only went to that one meeting:] Yes I am guilty of sharing my great enthusiasm for beekeeping with my friends and coworkers. While they may not be at every meeting, (r3) they don't need to have lunch with the club to prove themselves.
   (r4) You might not care about getting your information from credible sources, but I do believe the public should utilize the most credible information available, and I have always utilized the most credible information available. Credibility makes all the difference between being a wingnut and being an expert respected by other experts in your field.

BeeKeeperBob: Sorry but you are not respected in your field, not at least by anyone I have spoken too (a6). You are a good spin doctor or you have a good writer, I doubt you wrote any of this on your own however You can quote from any book you want and so can I but the facts remain the same (a7). What you do and what you say are two different things

DavidMarder: ... (r6) I know the three people you "talk to" and I know they are also not interested in responsible beekeeping so I certainly don't consider them "experts in my field."

Other: (r7) I didn't bother addressing this but it reminds me of the time I saw Steven Colbert I believe while pretending to be a conservative pundit, as he does, blaming "books" for being biased. If I were to respond I would have said that yes he could probably find a quote SOMEWHERE by some wingnut that supported his side, and if I wanted to be swarthy and didn't care about credibility I could probably serve up some amazingly self serving quotes from a pest control industry magazine (which of course exist), but I don't have to do that, I can serve him up quotes from the most reputable sources in the beekeeping industry and I am certain he cannot do the same.

Comments

[colt-4-5.livejournal.com]

Heres an article you might find interesting... was quite the news story on this side of the boarder!

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/451642

[emosnail.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. One overturned near Sacramento here in March I believe. Its a huge fiasco when that happens

[colt-4-5.livejournal.com]

I couldnt even imagine how they clean up a mess like that!

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Flame wars. Lame and unprofessional. Geeze.

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Have you seen those tennis racket-like electric bug zappers?