**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** HONEY BEE POPULATIONS AROUND THE WORLD ARE DECLINING AT ALARMING RATES DUE TO MULTIPLE STRESSORS. EVERY YEAR WE SEE AROUND A 30% OVERWINTERING LOSS IN MANAGED HONEY BEE POPULATIONS. HOWEVER, PEOPLE TEND TO FORGET THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL POPULATIONS OF WILD HONEY BEES THAT EXIST WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION. ONE MAIN QUESTION THAT ARISES IS HOW ARE THESE WILD HONEY BEE POPULATIONS THRIVING EVEN WHEN THEY ARE EXPOSED TO THE SAME THREATS THAT MANAGED HONEY BEES ARE EXPOSED TOO. ONE SUCH HYPOTHESIS THAT COULD HELP SHED INSIGHT INTO THIS IS THE LEVEL OF GENETIC DIVERSITY WITHIN THIS WILD POPULATION. PREVIOUS STUDIES IN AFRICA FOUND HIGH LEVELS OF DIVERSITY AS UPWARDS OF 90% OF THEIR COLONIES ARE WILD AND/OR UNMANAGED, WHICH GIVES THEM THE POTENTIAL TO EXHIBIT HIGHER RESILIENCE TO A CHANGING CLIMATEAND NOVEL PATHOGENS. THERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT SUBSPECIES OF HONEY BEES THAT CAN PERFORM DIFFERENTLY ACROSS ENVIRONMENTS AND LOCALLY ADAPTED POPULATIONS MAY SHOW A GREATER TOLERANCE TO HUMAN THREATS. POTENTIALLY, THE LEVELS OF DIVERSITY IN THE WILD POPULATION COULD ALLOW THEM TO ADAPT TO NEW CHALLENGES FACED.THE POPULATION AT THE WWR IS PRIMARILY COMPOSED OF AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES, WHICH ARE A HYBRID BETWEEN BEES OF EUROPEAN MATERNAL ANCESTRY (APIS MELLIFERA MELLIFERA/LIGUSTICA) AND THOSE DERIVED FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUBSPECIES A. M. SCUTELLATA. GIVEN THAT THIS POPULATION HAS BEEN LIVING WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS (PROBABLY LONGER), THEY ARE LIKELY ADAPTED TO THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE MORE RECURRENT ERRATIC WEATHER PATTERNS. DETERMINING THE GENETIC DIVERSITY LEVELS OF THIS POPULATION COULD IDENTIFY A POTENTIAL SOURCE FOR A GENETIC STOCK TO BE USED FOR BREEDING. FURTHERMORE, DETERMINING THE CRITICAL TEMPERATURE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM EXHIBITED BY THESE BEES COULD SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT WILD COLONIES AT THE WWR ARE BETTER ADAPTED TO THEIR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT AS COMPARED TO THE MANAGED POPULATION. IN ADDITION, THE BEES AT THE WWR COULD HAVE A MORE ROBUST RESPONSE AND SHOW A HIGHER EXPRESSION OF HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS THAN MANAGED BEES. THIS STUDY COULD BENEFIT BEEKEEPERS BY ENCOURAGING THEM TO SOURCE BEES THAT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO ADAPT TO THEIR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT. THE CONSERVATION OF WILD HONEY BEE POPULATIONS IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED; BUT WE MUST WORK HARDER TO PRESERVE THEM, AS THEY REPRESENT A HIGHLY VALUABLE GENETIC RESOURCE FOR THE BETTER STEWARDSHIP OF HONEY BEE POPULATIONS IN THE FUTURE.