Commercial honeybee colonies used for crop pollination face welfare challenges from transportation and pesticide exposure.
Commercial honeybee pollination — trucking colonies to almond orchards in California, blueberry fields in Maine, and other crop sites — creates welfare challenges for bees that are rarely considered. Transport disrupts the colony thermoregulation that bees maintain with extraordinary precision. Arriving at pesticide-treated crops exposes bees to sublethal doses that impair navigation and immune function. Colony losses during the pollination season are significant. The paradox is that the crops depend on bee pollination, but the pollination service itself compromises bee health. Reforming pollination practices to reduce pesticide exposure and transport stress would benefit both bees and pollination effectiveness.