> Studies in Victoria (Oldroyd et al. 1997a) found that the feral honey bee population was self-sustaining and did not rely on immigration from the commercial population. The genetic distance of the commercial bees (Better Bees WA and others) with the feral Western Australian population was thus also investigated to determine whether the populations are genetically distinct. This allowed testing of the hypothesis that the feral population is maintained by escapees from commercial colonies in Western Australia.

> 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.

> The representation of both subspecies in the mitotypes of the feral population indicates gene flow from the commercial A. m. ligustica colonies via swarming. This was not necessarily a recent event and does not imply that the feral population is currently being supplemented by swarms from commercial colonies.

Comment:
Here we see three populations: 1) closed breeding system; 2) open breeding system; 3) feral populations. The closed breeding system has succeeded in creating a distinct population whereas the feral population has not. According to the authors, the feral population may not be regularly infused with swarms, but has simply not diverged due to the lack of selective pressure. 

In the US and Europe it is hypothesized that the feral population could diverge due to the selective pressure of varroa mites. So far, there is little hard evidence to support that, aside from a few isolated survivor populations (plus, the Africanized bees). What is needed is evidence that the survival is due to genetic differences that can be replicated in other locales, thus ruling out environmental factors.

PLB

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