> Were they feral - or escaped swarms from managed colonies?

In this case, feral simply means bees not in hives. But beyond that, the whole point of the article is that there is no difference, at least in terms of immune response. Regarding genetic differences, I am of the opinion that so-called differences depend entirely on what you are looking for. 

It's the classic case of lumpers and splitters. Genetic typing is a fishing expedition if there ever was one. You only find what you go looking for. If you look for differences or if you look for similarities, you will find them.

At this point, the genome is like a Rorschach test. Robert Pirsig wrote: "When they gave you the Rorschach test and all you said was that you saw an ink blot that meant you were insane." If you don't read anything into it, it's just a blot.

PLB

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