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THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
CHAPTER XIX. 
THE ITALIAN HONEY-BEE. 
Aristotie speaks of three different species of the honey¬ 
bee, as well known in his time. The best variety he des- 
eribes as “ puxpd, srpoy/bAij xai iroixiAij”—that is, small and 
round in size and shape, and variegated in color. 
Virgil ( Georyicon , lib. IV., 98) speaks of two kinds as 
flourishing in his time; the better of the two, he thus 
describes: 
Eluccnt afire, et fulgore coruscant, 
Ardentes auro, et paribus iita corpora guttis. 
Ilsec potior soboles; bine coeli tempore certo 
Dulcia mclla 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 : , , 10 - 
“York, Pn., August 5, 18 6. 
(i jyjy Dear Sir :—The first accuunt we have of the Italian 
bees, as a distinct race or variety, is that given by Capt.. Bahlen- 
Blein, in the Bienenzeilung , 1848, p. 26.* Being stationed in 
* Tlie Rot. E. W. Gllmnn, of Bangor Maine, has recently directed my attention 
to Splnola’s “iMtctorum TAgnrin xpeciex nova ant rariorM,” from which it 
anneare that Splnola accurately described all the peculiarities of this bee, which he 
round in Piedmont, in 1S05. He fully Identified it with the bee described by Ar e- 
totie, and calls it the Ligurian See, a name now Tory generally adoptod in 
Europe 
