>they defined feral as, an established swarm that already survived one or more winters without intervention prior to the
study

That seems to me to be an incredibly narrow definition. It would include a very large number of hobby "let alone" colonys as well as popular nesting sites around established yards. I unfortunately have more than a little experience with the latter. Dr. Seeley.s work is more tuned to bees natural self management than to any genetic variation that can be exploited by operations working for purpose, honey or pollination. 

Concerning isolated areas where a population could survive sufficient generations to develop valuable traits I think that a simple indicator is the presence of varroa. Has any population been found that is naive to varroa? If varroa finds every colony one must ask how they got there. Isolation is obviously not complete. Stock an area with a varroa free colony and see how long it takes for infestation. The mites did not move in on their own.  

Paul

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html