Where in the world-ah-I mean the US are US beekeepers legally getting
Italians?  I thought we stopped bringing in bees/genetics from outside the
US (sarcasm).  Is there a queen producer selling instrumentally inseminated
(II) queens they have been maintaining for a couple decades at $8.00/each?
Anyone that has done or is doing II definitely gets the joke.

I have not heard of any breeder of which there are very few, actually
maintaining a line of ³Italians² in a manner I would call pure Italian.  I
do know some folks trying to carry on some of the characteristics of the
Italians and calling them Italians.  For convenience by some and out of
ignorance for most, any light colored and or gentle bee is called an Italian
and any dark a Carniolan.  Color has nothing to do with aggressive behavior.
There are extremely gentle dark bees such as Cobey¹s NWC as well as
aggressive light colored bees.  This holds true to other traits as well.  It
depends upon what the breeder is selecting for and how successful they are
at maintaining gains.

I would also venture to say there are only two groups/lines/populations of
bees in the US that could be called ³races².  They have the genetic ³purity²
(a funny little word) and consistently exhibit characteristics uniform with
the description of their race.  They are called New World Carniolan-A.m.
carnica and AHB-A. m. scutellata.  Some say the Russians are a race.  I
believe that promoted ³absolute² is up for debate.  Too me-they act a lot
like the book definition of Carnicas---maybe they are ³OWC-Old World
Carniolans²‹OOP!s! I wasn¹t supposed to say that.  Really they are
Macedonians with just a pinch of Carnica and Italian thrown in for good
measure.  Shall I stir the pot?

Personally I could care less what they look like or are called as long as
they survive without chemical intervention, produce honey well and are
sufficiently gentle.

Also, well said Andrew Dewey about learning on the list.











Dann Purvis
Purvis Brothers Apiaries, Inc.
5122 Trackrock Camp Road
Blairsville, GA  30512
USA
706 781 3128 (voice and fax)
706 781 3376
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