Wild bees including bumblebees and solitary species are declining globally due to habitat loss, pesticides, and disease, with welfare implications for both pollinators and the ecosystems they support.
The welfare of individual bees in declining populations is inseparable from the conservation of those populations. Pesticide-exposed bees show impaired navigation leading to failure to return to nests, starvation, and death of dependent larvae. Habitat loss reduces foraging success and nest site availability. The welfare implications of colony collapse disorder in managed honey bees are different from individual wild bee welfare but both deserve attention. Wild bees provide irreplaceable pollination services that support the welfare of many other species.