318 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE ITALIAN HONEY-BEE. 



ARISTOTLE speaks of three different species of the honey- 

 bee, as well known in his time. The best variety he des- 

 cribes as " fjuxpoi, grpoy/^Xij xai #01x1X17" that is, small and 

 round in size and shape, and variegated in color. 



Virgil ( Georgicon, lib. IV., 98) speaks of two kinds as 

 flourishing in his time ; the better of the two, he thus 

 describes : 



Elucent aliae, et fulgore coruscant, 

 Ardentes auro, et paribus lita corpora guttis. 

 Hsec potior soboles ; hinc cceli tempore certo 

 Dulcia mella premes." 



The better variety, it will be seen, he characterizes as 

 spotted or variegated, and of a beautiful golden color. 



The attention of bee-keepers has recently been called to 

 this variety of the honey-bee, which, after the lapse of 

 more than two thousand years, still exists distinct and 

 pure from the common kind. The following letter from 

 Mr. Wagner will show the importance attached to this 

 species, by some of the most skillful and successful Apia- 

 rians in Europe : 



"YORK, Pa., August 5, 1856. 



' : MY DEAR SIR : The first account we have of the Italian 

 bees, as a distinct race or variety, is that given by Capt. Balden- 

 stein, in the Bienenzeitung, 1848, p. 26.* Being stationed in 



* The Rev. E. W. Oilman, of Bangor Maine, has recently directed my attention 

 to Spinola's " Insectorum Ligurice species nova out rariores" from which it 

 appears, that Spinola accurately described all the peculiarities of this bee, which he 

 found in Piedmont, in 1S05. He fully identified it with the bee described by Aris- 

 totle, and calls it the Ligurian See, a name now very generally adopted in 

 Europe. 



