> Previous research has demonstrated the local feral stocks can exist alongside managed bees, yet maintain their genetic integrity. 

* I think there is evidence for opposing views. Oldroyd et al showed that feral bees differed from highly selected bees but not from run of the mill commercial bees.

> We 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. -- Chapman, N. C., Lim, J., & Oldroyd, B. P. (2008). Population genetics of commercial and feral honey bees in Western Australia. Journal of Economic Entomology, 101(2), 272-277.

This student work showed distinct differences between feral colonies and nearby commercial hives:

> Results indicate the colonies are separated into 3 distinct clusters, or populations, and pairwise Fst values indicate that there has been little gene flow between the Arnot Forest cluster and the two apiary clusters. The Fst values and the cluster analysis suggest that the Arnot-tree bees are genetically distinct from the managed apiary samples and that these feral nest cavities are not simply being filled by escaped managed swarms. -- Carcione, Angela. Genetic Analysis and Mitotype Determination of a Survivor Population of Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera) In New York. Diss. University of Delaware, 2014.

* However, the commercial hives had queens introduced continually which were from Northern California stock, so the comparison was actually between that stock and local New York stock, which is not insightful at all. It corresponds to the above study, but lacks a valid control. 

PLB

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