When I was a boy, The Memphis Beekeepers Association had a write up in the Memphis Commercial Appeal sponsoring a beekeeper interest meeting open to the public. This event was not sponsored by the government, was not placed in the paper as a bought advertising spot, but instead was the result of a well written article by a real journalist. The guest speaker was Tim Durham, now on YouTube, known as the Walls bee man. Keep in mind this was before YouTube, Facebook, and all the other online social media platforms. I was just a young boy but tagged along with my uncle to this event. Mr Durham made an excellent and interesting presentation. There were tables set up with various types of bee equipment for sale. Along with books, leaflets, and all types of information concerning bees. No bee equipment was given away, The attendees were there of their own choosing and curiosity of honey bees 🐝 . The government had no involvement in this meeting or its sponsorship. No government insensitive what so ever. The meeting was a tremendous success. The place was packed. My uncle and his co-worker were two people that I know who became beekeepers as a result. Now, many years later, I have become a beekeeper because of that meeting, and no telling how many others. This cost the taxpayer a total of zero dollars and zero cents.
There are some good views and points posted here on both points of view about this giveaway that I can understand and appreciate. But is my opinion, the private sector can always do a better job at most anything than the government can do. Now, do we want to make this a coffeehouse issue as it may be turning into one. I do not think that was or is iddees intention? Did Virginians know that their state was giving away bees? The correctness or wrongness of this would be a good discussion in the coffeehouse😊?
Phillip
