Italian bee
Encyclopedia
Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee which is a sub-species of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera).
, South of the Alps
, and North of Sicily
. The subspecies
may have survived the last ice age
in Italy.
It is genetically a different subspecies than the subspecies from the Iberian peninsula
and from Sicily. It is the most widely distributed of all honey bee
s, and has proved adaptable to most climate
s from subtropical to cool temperate, but it is less satisfactory in humid tropical regions.
Italian bees, having been conditioned to the warmer climate of the central Mediterranean, are less able to cope with the "hard" winters and cool, wet springs of more northern latitude
s. They do not form such tight winter cluster
s. More food has to be consumed to compensate for the greater heat loss from the loose cluster. The tendency to raise brood late in autumn also increases food consumption.
than Northern dark bees. They are unable to retain faeces in the gut for long periods and require more frequent cleaning flights than the dark bees. They are affected by the parasitic varroa mite, Tracheal Mites, and the bacterial diseases European Foulbrood, American Foul Brood, Chalkbrood and other diseases of the honey bee.
It has a reputation for gentleness, but hybrids with the darker races can be especially vicious.
Brother Adam, a bee breeder and developer of the Buckfast
bee, characterized the Italian bee in his book Breeding the Honeybee:
While the Italian bee has many strong points, among the A.m. Ligustica it has a large number of weak points:
Source: http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/pubs/The%2520Best%2520Bee.pdf George Imrie's pink pages
Origin
The Italian honey bee is thought to originate from the continental part of ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, South of the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, and North of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. The subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
may have survived the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
in Italy.
It is genetically a different subspecies than the subspecies from the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
and from Sicily. It is the most widely distributed of all honey bee
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
s, and has proved adaptable to most climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
s from subtropical to cool temperate, but it is less satisfactory in humid tropical regions.
Italian bees, having been conditioned to the warmer climate of the central Mediterranean, are less able to cope with the "hard" winters and cool, wet springs of more northern latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
s. They do not form such tight winter cluster
Winter cluster
In beekeeping, a winter cluster is a well-defined cluster of honey bees that forms inside a beehive when the air temperature dips below 54 to 57 °F . Honey bees are but a few insects that survive the winter as a hive. As the outside air temperature decreases the winter cluster becomes tighter and...
s. More food has to be consumed to compensate for the greater heat loss from the loose cluster. The tendency to raise brood late in autumn also increases food consumption.
Anatomy
- Color: Abdomen has brown and yellow bands. Among different strains of Italian bees there are three different colors: Leather; bright yellow (golden); and very pale yellow (Cordovan).
- Size: The bodies are smaller and their overhairs shorter than those of the darker honeybee races
- Tongue length: 6.3 to 6.6 mm
- Mean cubital indexCubital indexCubital index is the ratio of two of the wing vein segments of honeybees. The cubital index is used in morphology, the study of form and structure, one way to differentiate species and sub species of living organisms. The pattern of the veins of the fore wings is specific for each breed of bees. ...
: 2.2 to 2.5
Disease resistance
There is no clear evidence that ligustica are any more resistant to acarine mites than the Northern dark bee. They also appear to be less tolerant of NosemaNosema
For the genus in Lamiaceae, the mint family, see Nosema .Nosema is a genus of microsporidian parasites, including*Nosema algerae parasitising mosquitoes*Nosema antheraeae parasitising the Chinese oak silkworm Antheraea pernyi...
than Northern dark bees. They are unable to retain faeces in the gut for long periods and require more frequent cleaning flights than the dark bees. They are affected by the parasitic varroa mite, Tracheal Mites, and the bacterial diseases European Foulbrood, American Foul Brood, Chalkbrood and other diseases of the honey bee.
Characteristics
Brother Adam, a bee breeder and developer of the Buckfast
Buckfast bee
The Buckfast bee is a honey bee a cross of many species of bees into a stable race developed by "Brother Adam", , who was in charge of beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey, where the bees are still bred today.-Origin:...
bee, characterized the Italian bee in his book Breeding the Honeybee:
While the Italian bee has many strong points, among the A.m. Ligustica it has a large number of weak points:
Strong
- shows strong disposition to breeding and very prolific
- excellent housekeeper (which some scientists think might be a factor in disease resistance)
- uses little propolis
- excellent foragers
- superb comb builder:- Writing in Switzerland in 1862, H. C. Hermann stated the comb of an Italian bee-cell occupied only 15 cells for every 16 of the common black bee, and the cubic content was larger by 30 per cent.
- covers the honeyHoneyHoney is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
with brilliant white cappings - shows lower swarming tendency than other Western honey bee races
- for areas with continuous nectar flow and favorable weather throughout the summer
- industry
- gentleness
- fertility
- reluctance to swarm
- zeal for building comb
- white honey-cappings
- a willingness to enter supers
- cleanliness
- tendency to collect flower honey rather than honey dew. (of value only in countries where the colour of the honey determines the price)
Weak
- lacks vitality
- inclined to excessive brood rearing
- susceptibility to disease
- high consumption of stores
- more prone to drifting and robbingRobbingRobbing is a term used in beekeeping. Bees from one beehive will try to rob honey from another hive. Robbing behavior is especially strong when there is little nectar in the field. Strong colonies with the largest stores are the most apt to prey upon weaker colonies. Some robbing is carried out...
than the other principal races of Europe. - often the strong brood rearing disposition and resulting large food consumption in late winter or early spring causes spring dwindling and hence slow or tardy spring development
- brood rearing starts late and lasts long into late Summer or Autumn, irrespective of nectar flow
- tends to forage over shorter distances than either carnica or mellifera, and may therefore be less effective in poorer nectar flows.
- apparently lacks the ability to ripen heather honey before sealing.
- for cool maritime regions
- for areas with strong spring flow
- for areas with periods of dearth of nectar in the summer
Selective breeding
Breeders of Italian bees as well as other honey bee races look for certain beneficial characteristics. Depending on the breeding goal one or more of the following characteristics will be emphasized.- Gentleness or excitability
- Resistance to various diseases and the tracheal mite plus the Varroa mite
- Early spring buildup in population
- Wintering ability
- Not prone to excess swarming
- Ripens honey rapidly
- Honeycomb cappings are white
- Minimal use of propolis
- Availability and queen cost
- Color
Source: http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/pubs/The%2520Best%2520Bee.pdf George Imrie's pink pages
Worldwide distribution
- 1853? introduced to GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- 1854 introduced into the PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
by Dr. Jan DzierżonJan DzierzonJohann Dzierzon, in Polish Jan Dzierżon or Dzierżoń , also John Dzierzon , was a pioneering apiarist who discovered the phenomenon of parthenogenesis in bees and designed the first successful movable-frame beehive.Dzierzon came from a Polish family in Silesia... - 1854 introduced into the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- 1859 introduced to the USA
- 1862 introduced to AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on 9 December into Victoria aboard the steam ship AlhambraAlhambra (1855)The Alhambra was an iron Steamer screw built in 1853 by Samuda Brothers at Cubitt Town, London. It was wrecked in a collision off Newcastle, near Nobbys Head, New South Wales, on 30 June 1888.-Construction 1855:...
There is strong evidence this introduction failed as the emerging Italian virgin queens hybridised with the English 'black' bee. (Source: Barrett, P. "The Immigrant Bees, 1788 to 1898", Vol. IV) Wilhelm Abram brought several queens from Italy to Sydney in December 1880 but it's probable they reached New South Wales through other hands earlier than this. - 1866 introduced to FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
- 1880 introduced into New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
- 1884 (Easter) introduced to Kangaroo IslandKangaroo IslandKangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
South Australia, sourced from Brisbane where they were previously imported in 1880 from Italy by Chas. Fullwood. Jas. Carroll received a hive of Italian bees in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1877 when Angus Mackay accompanied a hive aboard the City of New York, packaged by Harbison in California. After a week's stopover in Sydney, the bees arrived in Brisbane.
External links
- THE LIGURIAN OR ITALIAN ALP-BEE The Sydney Morning Herald 30th Oct 1862
- BEE CULTURE The Sydney Morning Herald 14 Aug 1914