hello @yintercept, thanks for joining us. feral bees indeed do mix genes with colonies that aren't native so the genes definitely are intermingling, but one thing about swarms is that they're usually more resilient as they are surviving without human interference. the genes will inherently be stronger. This helps the local environment as there will be more bees which equals more pollination and more productivity within their local ecoystem (more fertilization = more fruit set, etc). Honeybees aren't native to N America although they've been long since introduced here. "native bees" are usually referring to mason bees, carpenter bees , bumble bees, etc. These feral honeybees we're catching are a mix of introduced Apis melifera (honeybee) that have swarmed from kept hives and mixed with naturalized colonies. Does this answer your questions? thanks for stopping by!
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We have Rocky Mountain Bee Plant and it attracts the most amazing selection of bees, making me feel sad that I know so little about the subject.
there's so much to learn!