In support of my contention that so called ferals are not different
from bees in colonies that are raised from locally available honey
bees and/or simply allowed to requeen themselves:

> Due to the introduction of exotic honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) diseases in the eastern states, the borders of the state of Western Australia were closed to the import of bees for breeding and other purposes >25 yr ago. To provide genetically improved stock for the industry, a closed population breeding program was established that now provides stock for the majority of Western Australian beekeepers. Given concerns that inbreeding may have resulted from the closed population breeding structure, we assessed the genetic diversity within and between the breeding lines by using microsatellite and mitochondrial markers. We found that the breeding population still maintains considerable genetic diversity, despite 25 yr of selective breeding. We also investigated the genetic distance of the closed population breeding program to that of beekeepers outside of the program, and the feral Western Australian honey bee population. The feral population is genetically distinct from the closed population, but not from the genetic stock maintained by beekeepers outside of the program.

--
Population Genetics of Commercial and Feral Honey Bees in Western Australia
Nadine C. Chapman, Julianne Lim, and Benjamin P. Oldroyd
Journal of Economic Entomology

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************