Question ???

[TwT]

I was told today that 2 of the queens I'm getting in march are from a old line of Italian called the Red Italian. anyone ever heard of it ? im also getting 2 NWC queens and 1 queen is coming from kohnen (if thats how it is spelled ) the same supplier that golfsycho is getting his packages.

[golfpsycho]

It's just a guess TWT, but I'm thinking the Red Italian is probably the cordovan.  It's a recessive gene and the bees body parts are red instead of black, the abdomen is golden with very faint bands instead of the distinct bands of the normal italians.  Most are open bred, so you get a mix, but they are great looking.  I have ordered 2 cordovan queens just to get the redheads buzzing around here.

[latebee]

twt asked  

2 of the queens I am getting are from an old line of italian called red italian,anyone ever heard of it?

Yes, I had I purchased some last spring from a pollinator beekeeper about 50 miles from my home. I bought two-3 lb. packages and the seller called them "Missisipee Red Italians" and I thoght he was playing a joke on me because they look just like any other Italian bee I have seen so far, in my limited tenure in beekeeping, perhaps a very, very subtle difference in color.  Maybe  I wasn't duped  at all,now that you also mention them. By the way the colony I reared in a styrofoam hive did very well,(5 maybe 6 full frames in cluster) the one in a standard wooden hive perished before January of this year( could be just a fluke? )--so good luck-and also they are from my limited experience an EXTREMELY gentle bee to work with. I hope this helps you somewhat. Having a ball :)
                                                                            latebee

[Phoenix]

You will not see a diffirence in color in the general population of the colony, you will see it in the color of the queen.  Cordovan Italian queens will have a solid tan abdomen instead of striped, and her legs will be brown instead of black.

[golfpsycho]

I think if you look closely, you will see the hard body parts of the workers (legs, thorax) have a burnt orange color rather than black, and the bands are a bit lighter.  Maybe it's something else causing it, but when I watch the bees coming and going in my hives, I see a number with this brown/orange tint on the legs and thorax.  I attributed this to some cordovan background somewhere along the line.  Guess I wil find out when I get the new queens later this year.

[Kris^]

I've noticed different colorations among my bees.  Some of them have a reddish coloration around the abdominal banding closest to the thorax.  I suppose my queen was mated with several slightly different breeds of Italian drones.

-- Kris