Scads,
I feel sorry for you to not feel part of an industry.
This forum is part of an industry. This forum allows the public to access the industry. This is a place where MOST beekeepers learn beekeeping. Says so right on the main page.
I think all of our collective actions impact the overall image, the message, and the public support of beekeeping in general. While you may think the "industry" is a bunch of migratory beekeepers who would never stop to take out a feral colony, I think non-commercial beekeepers are the real industry. They are the ones at the public schools giving speeches, they are the mentors at the local bee clubs, and they have a much more visible and stronger voice effecting the public's image compared to the "industry" of those who you circumvent these qualities.
In Pennsylvania, 98% of beekeepers are not what anyone would call the "industry" by your definition. But their collective voice is what changes, educates, and gathers support in communities in all corners of the land.
Yes, if you only come here and contribute to the "industry" by doing nothing more than typing on a computer for a couple hours each day, then I agree, you are not part of any industry. In my opinion, you are missing some great parts of beekeeping. I think those that do spend the time in the public, at schools, at county and state bee functions and events, many of which are tailored at educating the public, then they should consider themselves as part of the industry.
Nobody at the local schools, at the state park, at the local farmers market...know of anyone other than local beekeepers. They see them as the industry. They see them as beekeepers. They see them as the industry. They ask these beekeepers about the bees. They do NOT see those that you claim are the industry.
Maybe that is the problem. Some think so lowly of themselves that they don't think they matter. That they have no impact. That they can not invoke change. That their actions are not worthy of thinking they are part of a larger picture. Sad indeed.
Your car analogy hardly compares on any level to the efforts, goodwill, and deeds of those that consider themselves part of the bee industry. I know I try every day to educate, help, and progress the industry that I love. And I clearly consider myself part of the industry. And I encourage others to think this way also. The hobby, actually turns out to be much more than a hobby, if you care about more than yourself.