> Could low population density be the key to feral survival and explain why ferals often survive poorly when brought into captivity?

I am pretty sure that's so, and research by Tom Seeley seems to bear it out. On the other hand, I knew a beekeeper a few counties over from here who kept hundreds of hives in sets of one or two hives, with a mile or two between. He had the usual problems with mites and AFB. Of course, there were a lot of larger bee yards in the vicinity. 

As far as how many feral hives in the US, nobody seems to have a handle on that. In the southern states, I reckon they are pretty common. The figure for Arizona seemed high but not impossible. Subsequently, I have been unable to find outwhat's it's based on, other than Reed's imagination.

P

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