First I would like to start off by apologizing for two things. Number one, I apologize for the lack of brevity in the following post, and second for the fact of posting this in more than one forum to get a better sampling of interests and ideas.
Now before I hurt or offend, I am aware that there already exist a plethora of beekeeping websites, and I am not promising that what I create would be the best; I just hope it won’t be the worst. As far as beekeeping is concerned, I’m still wet behind the ears, in fact I have not even hosted my first package of bees yet, I still however have the backing of will and some academic knowledge on the subject. As far as computer usage, programming, and web development goes, I believe I am sufficiently learned. I graduated with a bachelors degree in Computer Science in December, and have been using a computer for as long as I can remember and programming in some capacity for most of that time.
The premise of
my website (which really should read
our website, but more on that latter) is based on the idea of a
free exchange community. I say a free exchange community, partly out of necessity, and partly because I as of yet cannot think of a better term :) . By free exchange I am not saying I expect (or even want) people to give up property, intellectual, physical or otherwise. Rather I want the website to facilitate the
exchange of ideas, communication, and occasional goods from the hive or as a result of the hive. I say free for two main reasons. Namely I want to allow interactions, but not require them between members, i.e. if you want to post an article or submit an idea, it would be encouraged, but not required. Secondly, I say free as I don’t want (to require) money to exchange hands in the acquisition of goods. For example I want keeper A to be able to trade a pound of his blueberry honey at no charge to keeper B for a equivalent valued amount of raspberry honey, with each keeper either consuming the price of shipping and packaging (which should be equivalent regarding equivalent goods). Lastly, and most importantly
community needs to take place for this site to work, this is why I call it
our site, and should not call it my site.
It is my intention to encourage (and require some degree of) community by hosting the following features. This list is by no means complete, it simply a starting point, some of which features may never see the light of day.
Forums :- I’m not trying to step on anyone’s feet by implementing a forum system. I know there exist other forums with established membership, it is simply my opinion that no useful web-based community can exist with out proper communication amongst membership.
Wiki :- A Wiki is a website that allows visitors to freely and easily create new, or modify existing content. (For those not familiar with a Wiki system and wish to learn more visit the
Wikipedia which is a Wiki based encyclopedia.) This would basically serve as an organized know-everything basis for the subject of bees, beekeeping and everything related. Think of it as a web based book that any member of the community may add to or modify, keeping it constantly up to date and as accurate as accurate as possible. Users would be welcome to simply add information on a topic that they have had experience on or even write a virtual tome of knowledge based on specific subset of knowledge.
Trade Facilitator :- I touched on this earlier with the example of keeper A trading keeper B for some honey. Think of this segment of the website acting similar to an auction house that deals with the barter system, rather than money, or simply as a way for keepers and enthusiasts to trade goods. If keeper A has excess honey, he or she can say specifically what they wish to trade for (for example a different kind of honey) or keeper B may offer keeper A some fresh raspberry preserves which his bees helped pollinate. The same idea could be expanded for the trade of tools, hive parts, wax or other bee related products (even vaguely so). The idea would simply be that the individuals within the deal would trade the items at no expense to the opposite party, i.e. if you send me a sample of your honey I’ll send you a sample of mine.
Other Ideas can be expanded upon implemented as warranted.
Now I can’t express enough the importance of community in implementing such a task, by no means could I do it alone. I’m not asking for funds, usage of such a site would be free. Though there is always the possibility I may in the future ask for donations to help pay for the costs involved with hosting a website (never personal time), but I hope to never require them, and they would never be mandatory, as this would be solely non-profit. I also hope to never need paid advertising. This would be as much your website as it would be mine, I’m simply going to front some time in the beginning, as I hope others would do in the future to keep the community going.
By no means would this website go up overnight, there a great deal of time I will need to invest (possibly many months) before any thing would be presentable. This is also by no means a selfless act, I hope to do this to gain further insight into beekeeping, make a few friends, and gather more experience with overall web development, being the ever-growing media outlet it is.
If there is no obvious interest I may simply drop the idea entirely, by no means could this be a one-man show, I require the help of others to make this work. As of now I am the testing phase of forum software (
phpBB) and a Wiki engine (
Media Wiki). If you are interested in other web projects I have worked with you can view
The Aquatic Recreation Club of NMT’s website, but unfortunately it has not been kept up to date since I left the project (due to graduating).
As for a name for this website I was thinking the “Sweet Bee Exchangeâ€, though I am not set on this as a title and am more than happy to hear and think through other options before I set it in stone.
If you read everything up to here, or even if you just lightly skimmed, I thank you and wish to hear some of your questions, input, suggestion and possible criticisms regarding this project.
-Robert (artic)