Mick
I don't know an awful lot about bee types. I think that it is not an Italian (input anyone?). I think that Italian bees have three yellow bands that are very noticeable. They are a very light coloured bee. This may be Carniolan (input correction anyone). Carniolan are very dark, like this one, and very grey, hairy, fuzzy bees, like this one, so that is my guess and I am sticking to it. I know that up here the common are Italian and Carniolan and they do look very different, I have both and extremely noticeable differences are observed. Maybe someone can positively identify it for you. Good luck, I would be very interested. Beautiful picture, by the way. What is the bee foraging on? Great day. Cindi