>
> >I think the issue deserves humble respect.  Beekeepers need not be so
> rude by invading natural or preserved areas.  By definition, honey bees
> are
> inappropriate in natural areas since they are stock animals


>  The fact that beekeeping is a commercial enterprise for many does not
negate the fact that 99% of all beekeepers are amateurs.

I agree about respect.  May I offer an assessment without any value
judgments:

Although honey bees are not native to North America, they are now well
established and part of our ecosystem for the foreseeable future.

There are three overlapping populations--

   1. commercially-managed colonies,
   2. recreationally-managed colonies, and
   3. feral populations.

There is some degree of genetic transfer between them in some areas, but
surprisingly little in others.

The commercially-managed population is genetically bottlenecked, as are
other livestock animals, and may exert strong competition for resources, as
well as pathogen transmission within some miles of placement of large
apiaries.

The recreationally-managed population may be even denser than the
commercial population in urban and suburban areas, with the same impacts as
above.

The feral populations face evolutionary pressure to evolve into
regionally-adapted subspecies.  The interference from managed colonies can
affect this evolutionary process, both genetically, and from competition
for resources, and from parasite/pathogen transmission.


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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