Bumblebees are vital pollinators facing serious population declines due to habitat loss, pesticides, disease, and climate change. Several UK species are now extinct or critically endangered.
Bumblebee colony founding is energetically precarious - a newly emerged queen must find food, nest site, and establish a colony alone after winter. Any additional stress from pesticide exposure, disease, or poor weather dramatically reduces success. Individual bumblebees show pain responses and demonstrate basic forms of learning and memory. Colony failure means the death of hundreds of individuals who would otherwise go on to pollinate wildflowers and crops. Habitat loss removes the wildflower resources essential for bumblebee survival.