Commercial honeybee pollination services involve conditions that stress and harm bees, yet underpin much of global agriculture.
Commercial pollination subjects honeybee colonies to chronic stressors: nutritional deficiency from monocultures, stress from transportation, disease exposure at high-density events, and pesticide exposure. Colony collapse disorder has multiple interacting causes, many related to these welfare compromises. Bees are instrumental to food systems but their welfare is rarely prioritized.