> I don't think that honeybees are domestic animals: they are 'ferae naturae'. in the UK.

This is a complex issue. Looking at the definition helps only slightly:

domesticate. tame (an animal) and keep it as a pet or for farm produce: mammals were first domesticated for their milk.

It certainly is questionable whether honey bees can be considered tame, but they are definite kept for produce. The term domestic refers to being kept in connection with a domicile. Bees have been kept in this way for at least 7000 years. In his article on the topic, Ben Oldroyd sends mixed signals:

> The domestic turkey is a different creature from its wild ancestors. The honey bee, in contrast, has never been properly domesticated. But in most respects, domestic bees remain largely unchanged from their wild cousins.

So he says they aren't really domesticated but then calls them "domestic bees". So we wind up with 1) the relationship people have with bees and 2) the result of that relationship. We treat them as domesticated livestock, feeding them, medicating them, propagating them. In return, they go wild (swarm) as they have always done. 

Oldroyd concludes:

> it is interesting to consider whether the process of domestication of the honey bee is really all that different to the domestication of other species. Loss of diversity seems recent and may be a direct consequence of modern reproductive technologies and breeding. Maybe beekeepers just have not gone down that road yet.

Oldroyd, B. P. (2012). Domestication of honey bees was associated with expansion of genetic diversity. Molecular Ecology, 21(18), 4409-4411.

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