Peter Borst wrote:

>         In any given area, even prior to the arrival of Varroa, feral
> populations have always been very small and I seriously doubt if they
> have ever been the primary source of genes in the USA.

       In my area, a mix of suburbs and farm land with no commercial bee
operations, most bee colonies were feral, living in trees and in the
walls of buildings. I counted on swarms from these colonies for a supply
of bees each spring. And, I suspect, my queens counted on feral drones to
put some genetic diversity into the worker eggs they produced.
Tim
--
Tim Sterrett
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(southeastern) Pennsylvania, USA
40.0 N 75.5 W