Commercial bumblebee colonies are produced in large numbers for greenhouse crop pollination. Welfare concerns include inbreeding in commercial lines, disease transmission to wild populations, and welfare of individual bees in artificial colony conditions.
Bumblebees in commercial colonies face conditions quite different from natural wild colonies including artificial queen management, controlled environments, and high queen replacement rates. Colony collapse before the natural season end wastes the remaining workers. Diseases carried by commercial bees that escape into the wild cause population-level welfare harm to wild bumblebees. Individual worker welfare is affected by pathogens that impair flight, navigation, and longevity.