From my experiences I am moving away from Italians and to all Carnis for Almonds. If you are there to feed them, Italians will do fine however I find that Carnis shut down quicker when the flow stops in the fall, use less stores over the critical months before almonds and are quick to build up going into almonds. Just my two cents. I am sure that Italians work very well for some and can have very large populations going into almonds but for myself, our area and how I manage the hives the Carnis are the best choice for the way I operate.