Here are my suggestions. Thanks Alex for supporting the idea of a separate area for discussions on the science. I'm tempted to go ahead with this but will wait a day or so to see what people make of it.

Under 'More ..' down below, an area called 'Science and beekeeping.' Thread initiation to be *moderated* so that only the best topics go up for discussion. Initiators must write a paragraph explaining why this issue is important to kick off the discussion, and must be willing to write up the outcome of the discussion after a period (a month?) with a view to offering it to the Scottish Beekeeper. I'll email Nigel S to see if he is up for linking the magazine and the forum in this way. I suspect that I may be starting more threads than most. Maybe we should even make this a monthly feature, with the best topic going forward for that month after its month's airing?

The topics? Either a single, pivotal paper with wide beekeeping implications, or a single topic that a number of different papers or talks have impacted upon. Hot topics in the news particularly welcome. Perhaps even something a bit broader could be the issue for the month - such as, 'What is the scientific justification for the recent press campaign on pesticides and beekeeping?'. But that is a big topic scientifically and if we are not focussed on single, smaller issues the debate will be too far ranging. We can still do those big topics elsewhere. Another topic might be research projects with which the SBA has got itself involved ...

After the month (or whatever) the topic is left up for continuing debate and - hopefully - will become an internet reference of value for beekeeping as a whole.

Second change.

Perhaps just a forum management issue. These conspiracy theory rants. If they are on pesticides or GM I (or fellow moderator) really ought to just move them when they start to the right place, huh? That 'Beekeeping and the Environment' area. And when other threads meander in that direction I (or colleague) should be harder about cutting the discussion and moving it there.

Just some thoughts. Any views, folks? We do have a few non-Scottish Beekeeper subscribing contributors. Maybe the text of any articles published could be presented here too.