Hi all

Another persistent myth is that the Italian bee is inherently less able to survive cold winters than other varieties. To the contrary:

The golden-banded ltalian bee, of which Socrates and Virgil wrote, but which had come to be regarded as a legend, was discovered by Capt. Baldenstein during the wars of Napoleon, in a small district of the Alps, which being surrounded by snow-capped mountains had prevented their outside organization. He, however, brought out a swarm to his home In Switzerland. This was In 1843. In 1853 they were imported into Germany, and rendered Dzierzon important aid in the completion of his discoveries, and who hesitated not to declare this new race of honey-producers as the most profitable, the most prolific, the most industrious, and the most beautiful in the world.

from: A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEE-CULTURE. E VAN SLYKE. The Phrenological Journal and Science of Health; Feb 1871

Pete 🐝

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