Wild bee populations are declining globally due to habitat loss, pesticides, disease, and climate change, with cascading consequences for ecosystem health and food security.
Wild bee welfare, while uncertain at the individual level due to questions about insect sentience, matters enormously at the population and ecosystem level. Bees experiencing sublethal pesticide exposure show impaired foraging, navigation, and immune function that likely constitute functional suffering even if not conscious pain. Supporting diverse wildflower habitats, reducing pesticide use, and protecting nesting sites benefits billions of individual bees with meaningful positive effect on their functional wellbeing.