AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



599 



California Poppy -The State 

 Flower. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. A. PKYAL. 



This flower has been chosen as the 

 State flower of California. It is not a 

 pretty flower by any means ; in fact, 

 there are hundreds of others that are 

 far prettier, but there are none in this 

 perennial sun-land so common. It is to 

 be met with everywhere, except on the 

 desert. 



The Eschscholtzia, or "California 

 poppy," as it is called, is a native of 

 California, and was never seen else- 

 where until discovered in that State. It 

 has since been introduced into various 



California Poppy — Plant and Flowers. 



countries as a rare garden flower ; sev- 

 eral new varieties have been raised by 

 gardeners who have given it their care- 

 ful study, but none of these newer sorts 

 are as dazzling as the bright golden- 

 orange variety that is to be found grow- 

 ing in patches of a thousand acres at a 

 time in its native home. 



The only regret a bee-beeper has 

 when he sees one of these flowers is, that 

 it is not a honey-yielder. It has no 

 more honey in it than has the bricks in 

 McGinty's back yard. What makes him 

 regret this all the more is the fact that it 

 is to be found in bloom every month in 

 the year, though its regular season of 

 infloresence is during spring. But it has 

 one redeeming feature, and that is, that 

 it is somewhat of a pollen-producer. 

 This is no consolation to the California 

 apiarist, for there is no lack of such 

 plants in that State. 



I am sure, for all these reasons, that 

 if the bee-keeper was to vote on the 

 choosing of a State flower, the subject 

 of these few short paragraphs would not 

 get his vote. 



North Temescal, Calif. 



[The engraving used in the foregoing 

 gives a correct representation of the 

 flowers of the California poppy, but it is 

 rather too much reduced in size ; it should 

 be more spreading, and have from 30 to 

 40 flowers. Those who plant flowers 

 for pollen, should include the California 

 poppy. It is easy to cultivate. — Ed.] 



Importance of Properly Prepar- 

 ing; Bees for Winter. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY H. F. COLEMAN. 



While I am now writing, we are hav- 

 ing a fall rain, and I am reminded that 

 preparations should now be made to win- 

 ter our bees. It makes no difference 

 where we are, whether North, South, 

 East or West, too much stress cannot be 

 laid upon proper preparation for the 

 wintering of onr bees. Of course, prep- 

 arations for wintering in the frozen re- 

 gions of the North means something 

 more than preparations for wintering in 

 Tennessee, but the principle is the same 

 here and there, and anywhere. 



Poor crops of honey invariably follow 

 poor wintering, and that without refer- 

 ence to the season ; and when such crops 

 come we hear much talk of poor seasons, 

 and that bee-keeping don't pay, etc. At 

 such times we forget that we are prob- 

 ably reaping our just rewards; that we 

 have fallen into a slip-shod way of tak- 

 ing care of our bees, and that we are 

 only receiving slip-shod results. If we 

 could only remember that, if bee-keeping 

 is worth any attention at all, it is worth 

 all the attention it deserves, and act 

 accordingly, I am quite sure our results 

 would be better. 



don't advise using tobacco. 



No, Bro. York, I would by no means 

 advise a non-user of tobacco to try an 

 experiment that would fasten upon him 

 the tobacco habit. The suggestion made 

 by me on page 436, that, by running 

 down the nerves by the use of tobacco, 

 it could be demonstrated that the state 

 of the nerves has much to do with the 

 pain of bee-stings, was not intended as 



