Keith Forsyth wrote: <She also notes on p.58 that although bees are highly attracted to poppy pollen, it may have a narcotic effect on the bees, with opium poppy being the cause of serious mortality of foraging bees.> and <None of the references indicate any "commercial value", unless one considers poor protein content or mortality of foraging bees.> Re: my earlier post in regards to poppy pollen. Our experience is anecdotal only but we have not observed any evidence of the above in regards to bees working our poppy blooms. Perhaps the operative word in the above quote is "may"? To the contrary, we have found poppies to be valuable pollen producers due, if for no other reason, to the fact that they are highly productive during parts of the season when very little else is in bloom. As to "commercial" value" I suppose "commercial" can mean different things to different folks. Though we do not collect pollen, we do raise poppy seeds for commercial purposes and the reason we have bees is for poppy, as well as other, pollination . We closely observe both the poppy seed production and the health of our bees and IMHO, for whatever it may be worth, it is not necessary to sacrifice one in order to promote the other. Skip Skip & Christy Hensler THE ROCK GARDEN Newport, Wash. http://wwwppovn.com/rock