Med. Weter. 82 (7), 303-308, 2026
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| JAROSŁAW SOBOLEWSKI, JAGODA JELENIEWSKA, ROMAN KOŁACZ |
| Welfare of the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera): Legal, Biological and Practical Perspectives |
| Honey bee welfare is an emerging concept situated at the interface of veterinary science, apiculture, animal welfare science and environmental policy. The aim of this review was to discuss the legal status of the honey bee in Poland and the European Union, analyze the applicability of the Five Freedoms concept to honey bee colonies, and critically review the literature supplied for this study. Under the current legal framework, honey bees are not clearly protected by the general animal welfare provisions that apply to vertebrates or to farmed animals under Directive 98/58/EC, yet they are strongly present in animal health, biosecurity and disease-control regulations. The reviewed literature shows that honey bee welfare should be understood both at the individual and superorganism level and is shaped by multiple interacting factors, including queen quality, parasites and pathogens, nutrition, pesticide exposure, thermal conditions, migratory management and beekeeper practices. Contemporary approaches increasingly move beyond a purely productive or disease-centered perspective toward welfare-oriented frameworks such as the Five Domains model and One Welfare. In practice, safeguarding honey bee welfare requires biologically appropriate management, improvement of forage resources, disease prevention, careful monitoring and legal recognition of the species-specific needs of managed bees. |
| Key words: honey bee welfare, Apis mellifera, beekeeping, Five Freedoms, law |