Why does stockfish suggest bishop pins on knights early on? Stockfish suggests the following pin for me (white) against the queen on the night. However, whenever I play this move in real games black just kicks the bishop off with pawn to h6. I end up just wasting moves? Am I supposed to pin and then take? What is the point of that?
In this particular position, it's not so much that the pin is anything special; there simply aren't many squares where you can put your bishop that don't let your opponent double your pawns. The only other option would be Bxd6, which gives your opponent the pleasant choice of either developing their queen for free with Qxd6 or opting for controlling some central space with cxd6.
In this case, yes, you would take if they play h6, since retreating would again lead to Black doubling your pawns.
Note that your choice of Nxe5 also allows your opponent to double your pawns after ...Bxe5 Bxe5 Nxe5 dxe5.