This Dog Assists with Bee Conservation — and Even Wears a Beekeeping Suit

This Dog Assists with Bee Conservation — and Even Wears a Beekeeping Suit



A canine in Michigan is sniffing out threats to local bee populations!

Maple, an English Springer Spaniel, has been trained by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) to detect a highly contagious spore-forming bacteria called American foulbrood, or AFB, which is destructive to honeybee larvae, per MSU Today.

The dog — who even has her own beekeeping suit — trains for the job by inspecting hives at the university’s Pollinator Performance Center with her trainer, MSU alum Sue Stejskal.

Commercial beekeepers must manually inspect hundreds of colonies in order to search for AFB, a task that can take days, per MSU Today. However, a trained dog like Maple could significantly reduce that time, potentially saving more bees from destruction.
Maple in her beekeeping suit.

G. L. Kohuth / Courtesy of Michigan State University

Maple is no stranger to helping humans: The almost 10-year-old dog previously worked as a K-9 police dog trained to help search for missing people. An on-the-job injury eventually forced Maple into retirement, which is when she began training with the Pollinator Performance Center.
A beekeeping class at the Student Organic Farm at Michigan State University.

Nick Schrader / Courtesy ofMichigan State University

Maple isn’t the only dog in the U.S. assisting with bee conservation. Darwin, a German shorthaired pointer in North Carolina, was especially trained to sniff out underground beehives.

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His owner, Jacqueline Staab, a bee researcher with Appalachian State University, said she had experimented with other detection methods before learning about bee-seeking dogs through a 2011 scientific paper that detailed how the military in Great Britain trained a dog to sniff out bee nests.

"Working with Darwin is really cool because he's always super motivated, super positive, ready to go," Staab told WCNC in a 2021 interview.

Bee conservation is important because plant pollination — which occurs in large part through bees — has become an increasingly urgent global issue, per MSU. Pollination is critical for sustaining our food supplies and ecosystems, meaning that a decrease in the world’s bee population could have devastating effects on food security.

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About 35% of the world’s food supply depends on pollination, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. However, factors like climate change and pesticides are impacting these systems, per experts.