alt Hacker NewsMy wife and I had wanted honey bees for a long time, but when we finally moved to a place that we could have had them, we noticed that we regularly saw at least 5 native bee species. We decided not to get a hive since they compete for resources and can spread disease. Given that there are neighbors that have them within about a mile, and that either those or feral colonies are close enough that we also see honey bees around, I'm not sure how much difference it makes, but we don't regret the decision.
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The mite has already hit most wild populations hard, and tending hives requires quite a bit of time to learn. Planting local wild flowers is often helpful, and requires just a few minutes. =3
For North America, you can read much about native bees (and more) at Xerces.org.
They have many regional habitat-planting guides. Two books covering native bees:
Managing Alternative Pollinators
Attracting Native Pollinators
There's not as much crossover as you might think. In North America the native pollinators are adapted to the native plants and can't even pollinate the introduced eurasian ones. And it goes the other way: honeybees can't pollinate the native plants, only the introduced eurasian ones.
If course, if you're in Europe, honeybees are the native pollinators. At least around the Mediterranean.