I can understand your concern.  In my state, I have never heard of anyone
being taken to task for having a feral colony of bees in a wall or a barn.
I am not aware of state inspectors destroying feral colonies as a matter of
policy.  Does that happen?  Would state inspectors recommend destroying all
feral colonies because they can not be inspected and may harbor disease?

In NYS, the program is defunded, so not much is being happening. In NYS, the inspectors were never mandated to go after feral hives. Maybe they should have been, but they weren't, so far as I know. A person could be cited for having one, and under the law, they would be obligated to destroy the colony. Policies vary from state to state, in any case. In Arizona, it is illegal to have any bees not in hives on your property. 

My point was that there are many good reasons not to leave a colony living in the wall of a house. I would probably take the *live and let live* attitude toward a colony living in a big old tree. Others, more adventurous than I, would attempt to extract them and put them in a hive. 

It's sort of like feral cats. Maybe no harm is being done, but then -- no one would suggest the presence of a lot of feral cats is a good thing. 

PLB

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