Australian bee dog, Bazz.

Australian reporter Clint Jasper put together a great story on another bee dog, Bazz, used to detect honey bee colonies infected by AFB (American foulbrood) bacteria.  It includes an audio interview with beekeeper/handler Josh Kennett discussing the challenge of developing the bee suit that Bazz wears while he's working in the bee yard to avoid stings as well as scent training Bazz, initiated by trainer Martin Dominick.  Martin Dominick also trained the springer spaniel Elroy for scenting AFB in Australia, mentioned in an earlier post.  Bazz is the second black labrador I've heard about employed for scenting AFB.  See an earlier post about the black lab, Clinker, from the U.S.

The article is accessible by clicking the link below.

Dog suits up for a day in the hives - ABC Rural (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Elroy the Bee Dog

Another Bee Dog to introduce!

This is Elroy, a springer spaniel trained by Martin Dominick in Australia to sniff out honey bee hives with American Foulbrood (AFB) disease.

Image from the Australian Government RIRDC.

Like Klinker the black lab from the Maryland Dept. of Agriculture, mentioned in an earlier post, Elroy is employed to seek out any honey bee colony that is infected with the AFB bacteria Paenibacillus larvae.  These bee dogs are able to do this work much faster and arguably more effectively than bee keepers (no offense intended to bee keepers).  Elroy even had a bee suit made especially for him so he could work at anytime and not worry about stings.  That's pretty darn cute.

Images of the article written about Elroy back in 2011 by the Australian Government Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation:

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