Bumblebees and solitary bees in urban areas face welfare challenges from habitat loss, pesticide exposure and disease, but gardens can make a significant positive difference.
Bee welfare encompasses both the welfare of individual insects and the health of colonies and populations. Evidence for invertebrate sentience in bees is growing - they show signs of pessimistic cognitive bias under stress and may experience something like positive affect when foraging. At the colony level, pesticide exposure reduces colony health, navigation ability and reproductive success. Habitat provision through diverse plantings supports foraging and nesting throughout the season. Avoiding garden pesticides, particularly systemic neonicotinoids, directly reduces welfare harm at scale.