> the whole territory of Tessir, Veltlin and South Graubunden. I thought this was particularly interesting. Tessir (Ticcino) and Graubunden (Grison) are parts of Switzerland. Veltin used to be as well: > During the 16th, 17th and 18th century the Valtellina was part of Graubunden, which was then a country independent of Switzerland ... during 16th century rule by Graubunden, the region was known varyingly as Veltlin, Westtirol (West Tyrol) ... The Graubunden are known for a dried-beef delicacy called Bundnerfleisch and for a nut and honey pie known as Bundner Nusstorte. So it appears that our Italian bee originated in a cold, snowy region that was once part of Switzerland *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm