Neonicotinoid pesticides have been identified as a significant driver of pollinator decline, causing sublethal impairments to bee navigation, reproduction, and immune function alongside direct mortality.
Neonicotinoid welfare impacts on pollinators operate at both individual and colony levels. Individual bees exposed to sublethal doses experience navigational impairment that leaves them unable to return to their colonies — a form of individual suffering with collective consequences. Colony-level effects including reduced queen fertility and worker impairment diminish collective wellbeing. The scale of exposure across agricultural landscapes means billions of individual insects are affected. Improving pollinator welfare requires reducing pesticide exposure through both regulatory restriction and land management practices that create pesticide-reduced refugia.