Hi all
There has been a lot of talk about the negative effects of keeping bees in apiaries, especially large apiaries or ones where the hives are closely placed. The suggestion has been made that they do not do this in natural settings. The following excerpts suggest otherwise

This study was prompted by a casual observation in a caravan park in Devonport, Tasmania, Australia of 12 colonies of feral honey bees (Apis mellifera) all within 200 m of each other (Oldroyd et al, 1995). This seemed an extraordinary density of honey bees. 

We suggest that scouts from natural swarms are attracted to existing colonies by the presence of Nasonov pheromones, and seek cavities in that area. In evolutionary terms, the presence of existing colonies might indicate that: i) the local environment can support bees; and ii) the swarm’s future queens would have nearby unrelated mates. 

Oldroyd, B., et al. "Colony aggregations in Apis mellifera L." Apidologie 26.2 (1995): 119-130.

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The fact that nest aggregations occur in at least 4 of the 9 extant honey bee species suggests that there are likely to be adaptive benefits of aggregation that outweigh these potential costs. Another potential reason why we might expect closely related colonies to group together is the inclusive fitness benefits of cooperative defence, which has been postulated as the reason for aggregations of A. dorsata (Seeley et al., 1982).

Oldroyd, B. P., K. E. Osborne, and M. Mardan. "Colony relatedness in aggregations of Apis dorsata Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Apidae)." Insectes Sociaux 47.1 (2000): 94-95.

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