Over the years, there has been a lot of talk about feral bees, survivor stock, etc. I have never seen any proof that the so-called ferals are anything more than swarms recently escaped from managed hives. These wild colonies do not have anything that managed colonies don't have. Some survive without human assistance, it's true, but there is an increasing number of beekeepers that refuse to treat for mites, so one would expect to find survivor stock among those hives as well. Further, recent studies have shown that not only is commercially available stock quite heterogenous (mixed lineages) but it may be even more diverse than native populations. 

QUOTED from abstract

> We sampled honey bee workers from two managed populations in North America and Europe as well as several old-world progenitor populations in Africa, East and West Europe. 

> We found that managed honey bees actually have higher levels of genetic diversity compared with their progenitors in East and West Europe, providing an unusual example whereby human management increases genetic diversity by promoting admixture.

Management increases genetic diversity of honey bees via admixture
B. A. HARPUR ET AL.  Molecular Ecology (2012)

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