I have also heard that wild bees could be hygienic survivor bees.
I'm located a couple of hours south of you. We have "swamp bees" all over here, living in old tree snags...under people's campers and trailers....in sheds.... nobody ever treats 'em. They make their own comb of course.
I've kept bees 7 years, 100% foundationless, never treated for mites, and these bees keep multiplying.
They're kind of like summer zucchini in the midwest... I keep giving away more colonies.... and they keep growing more...
I've bred from cutouts, and bred for mildness because some of them can be real fizzy. They can make some astoundingly large colonies.
