> I view the Italians & the Carniolans as color variants.

Carnis, specifically the NWC lines from Sue Cobey's New World Carniolan program are clearly distinct from any "Italian" in many practical and functional ways.    One need not see the bee to notice the stark differences in performance and behaviors.

These advantageous traits grew what was supposed to be a "gentleman farmer" retirement hobby with a half-dozen hives into an 8-employee business, and turned an incompetent beekeeper into a competent pollinator of apples (or at least made me seem somewhat competent, despite my deficiencies).  The bees paid for a new 52-foot sailboat and later, a newer-model 59-footer, the purchase and restoration of a 1950s Beechcraft Bonanza, funded many vacations, and helped to put two boys through college.  They also paid the salaries of a group of teens who became the coolest kids in school, as they drove their "work vehicle" 80s Volvo wagons to school each the morning after dawn patrol to an outyard.   These bees made money faster than I could think up ways to spend it.

First and foremost, they are very frugal in winter.  They make scary-looking grapefruit-sized clusters in winter that will convince the uninitiated that they will not survive winter.  But they thrive.
Second, they are very responsive to environmental changes, and will expand rapidly enough when snow is still on the ground to create swarm problems for the unprepared.
Splits in the snow were common enough that I pre-deployed extra pallets just after New Years.
They have none of the "spicy" nature that crept into so many lines of bees, full protective gear is very optional.
Best of all, they begrudgingly work apples, and do a fine job of it.

But bees for apples may not be a thing on the east coast much longer. Growing conditions for apples are thrashing due to climate change - lower production, more sunburn damage, smaller sizes, and internal damage cut the yield in half or more, and lots of east coast orchards stand derelict.  The heirloom apples are more resilient than the hybrids to all this, but these are niche apples with cult followings, and must be actively marketed by a vertically-integrated grower who is willing to pack and store himself. Wholesalers who understand the value of heirlooms are rare.

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