Even pesticide doses that do not immediately kill bees impair navigation, learning, reproduction, and colony health, contributing to population declines.
The welfare impacts of pesticide exposure on bees extend far beyond acute lethal effects. Sublethal doses cause neurological impairment that prevents bees from efficiently foraging, navigating back to their hive, and performing the complex communication behaviors that colony function depends on. Impaired reproduction at the queen level reduces colony resilience. These effects occur at pesticide concentrations routinely found in agricultural landscapes, meaning billions of bees experience ongoing neurological harm even in areas without visible bee die-offs.