Dogs sniff out pathogenic bacteria in honey bee colonies

I'm a big fan of canines, and here is my favorite example of how to look for bee bugs.  This is William Troup and Klinker, working for the Maryland Department of Agriculture inspecting honey bee colonies.  Klinker, a black lab, was scent trained on American foul brood (AFB; Paenibacillus larvae), a pathogenic bacteria of European honey bee larvae that create a very distinct smell when present.

Picture from the Maryland Dept. of Agriculture

Once scent trained, dogs can be used to quickly assess colonies for any scent of the bacteria.  Having such a sensitive sense of smell, dogs can detect AFB even at low levels.  This prevents cracking open a hive and pulling out frames one by one to assess them for signs of AFB, particularly beneficial in early Spring when it still may be quite cold out and the girls need to keep in warmth for the developing brood.

If anyone knows of additional dog nose work training in other states/countries to detect pathogens or has updates on Klinker and William Troup at the MDA, please share the knowledge and post a comment.  I'd love to learn more about this.

A link to the MDA Apiary Inspection site is here:  http://mda2.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/apiary_inspection.aspx