| Apis--Apicultural Information
and Issues Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter Volume 19, Number 5, May 2001 |
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The Last APIS? After much deliberating and coaching from colleagues and friends, I have decided to elect "discontinued service" from Federal employment beginning August 31, 2001. This will effectively end my employment at the University of Florida as extension apiculturist after more than twenty years. I have published a monthly beekeeping communication almost continuously since June 1978, when I was first employed as extension beekeeping specialist at The Ohio State University. The last issue of Beekeeping Notes, as it was called there, rolled off the press in June of 1981, to be replaced by Hum of the Hive in September of that year here at The University of Florida, continuing a newsletter published by a variety of authors since the 1950s. The title metamorphosed into APIS: Apicultural Information and Issues on February, 1983, and has been published with my byline ever since. This is the fifth number in Volume 19, making it the 221st edition. Over the years, the APIS newsletter has transformed in several ways. The logo was changed in 1991 and again modified in 1996. At that time, an index of articles was added to the first page. My readers have usually been happy with the content, but I have also continuously looked toward being able to distribute the newsletter as widely as possible using differing formats. During my tenure at The University of Florida, the digital age has become a reality, and APIS a true child of the information revolution, metamorphosing from four sheets of paper to a World Wide Web site. The story of APIS as a pioneer of information-age technology was the only one to representing Florida titled: "Honey of a Distribution Scheme," in: 51 Reasons: How We Use the Internet and What It Says About the Information Superhighway. This lobbying document, consisting of a story for each state in the union, was sent to all members of Congress in 1994 in order to inform the members about the potential value of funding the Internet. The APIS newsletter first became available electronically on a remote bulletin board system (RBBS) <http://netmation.com/rbbs.htm> hosted at the University of Florida and then was archived via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) <http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/comms/ftp.html> and GOPHER <http://www.cochran.com/start/guide/gopher.html> on the fledgling Internet. The newsletter was the first and only of its kind to be distributed by BITNET <http://www.cren.net/cren/cren-hist-fut.html> (Because it's Time Network) beginning in 1984. BITNET was subsequently replaced by the Internet. Numbers were published electronically from Italy in 1989 <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis89/apjul89.htm#1>, Egypt in 1992 <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis92/apmar92.htm#1>, France in 1997 <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/letters/aixind.htm>, and Ecuador last year <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis_2000/apapr_2000.htm#1>. At that time the document became "interactive through use of Listerv® technology <http://www.lsoft.com/products/default.asp?item=listserv-powered>. It presently goes out as a "beta edition to the APIS-L list, which now has 2350 subscribers worldwide. In the process, the newsletter has taken on a unique international focus. The APIS newsletter is now pre-published for review by the APIS-L list, printed on paper for distribution within Florida and a full-blown World Wide Web site with interlinked numbers going all the way back to 1984. The site also features a topical index of relevant issues <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/threads.htm>, and is linked to the majority of my papers published over the last decade along with my resumé of other activities <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/vita.htm>. To conclude, APIS has not only become a major database of beekeeping information, but also an historical archive, chronicling the significant changes that have affected the beekeeping craft over the last two decades. Writing and receiving the APIS newsletter has been a long tradition for both myself and my readers respectively. Indeed after putting so much energy and love into the document, I am reluctant to give it up, but realize it is time for me to move on to other things. Nevertheless, to see it end is a sorrowful occasion. The immediate question is what is to become of this newsletter? Is this in fact the last issue of APIS? There is no answer at the present time. Another consideration is the long-term fate of the APIS web site. Although I will not be physically at the University of Florida, the APIS web site should continue to make my work virtually available for a protracted period at least. In another turn of events, the URL has been changed from http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis.htm to http://apis.ifas.ufl.edu/. <http://apis.ifas.ufl.edu/.A0> I have been told that the old site will continue for only about six more months. This change should not impact relative links, those within the document, but printed references to these internal links will expire with the old site. Part of the responses to the questions posed above will be determined by the future of the extension apiculturist position here at the University of Florida. It is my understanding that the chairman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology has put in an emergency request to the administration to replace the position. Like many things in academia, however, the reality of replacing a position is often a political decision based on a number of variables. A recent example of this is the announcement of the closing of the Carl B. Hayden Honey Bee Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, something, which was found to be premature and has since been rescinded, presumably due to industry contacts with politicians. It is time, therefore, for the Florida beekeeping industry to map out a strategy in the pursuit of a replacement extension apiculturist that will take into consideration the realities of industry needs and priorities of Cooperative Extension in the Sunshine state. I have mixed emotions about
saying goodbye to this phase of my career and the newsletter
on which I have spent so much time and effort. I want to thank
all of those who have supported my efforts in communicating about
bees and beekeeping during my tenure at the University of Florida.
And I am sure I will continue to see many of my beekeeping friends
around the world at various venues, no matter where our travels
take us. |