Wild, Managed, Native, Feral

All of this is far more complex than most acknowledge.  In it's area of origin, Apis mellifera and its races/subspecies is clearly part of the natural diversity of bee pollinators.
In the America's we've got a bee that was introduced centuries ago, along with human colonists and earthworms.  Historical notes indicate that some portion of the managed colonies became feral and spread across the nation as fast, maybe faster, than the European colonists.

The impact to native pollinators first occurred then.  Feral A. mellifera became an inextricable part of the bee diversity.   If it's suitable habitat for A. mellifera, it will be there and will have been there since at least the 1800s. 

During my career, discussiona have moved from an generally held assumption that all competition from A mellifera and native bees must be bad, to maybe in some cases it's beneficial to both bees and plants, and even to a realization that wheras honey bees may displace some native bees, they might keep some scarce native plants pollinated, helping the native bees that rely on those plants re-establish.
One of our Ph.D. students is looking into the interplay amongst plants, native, and managed pollinators.  The plant communities benefit from the diversity.
Still, the old prejudices remain as typified by the meeting I had with an east coast advisory group to EPA composed of wildlife experts who stated to me - honey bees are good for crops, and they keep a few weeds around.

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