EAST LANSING, MI – An expert sniffer is helping researchers at Michigan State University detect beehive problems.
Maple, an English springer spaniel, dons a makeshift bee suit to inspect hive boxes at MSU’s Pollinator Performance Center, MSU Today reports. A former police K-9, she can sniff out American foulbrood, a spore‑forming bacteria that is highly contagious and destructive for honeybee larvae. When she finds the bacteria, she sits in front of the hive box and lifts a paw. Her reward: a game of fetch with a Spartan-branded chew toy.
As a police K-9, Maple specialized in searching for missing people, the report said. An injury forced her to retire and brought her to MSU for physical therapy.
Maple’s handler, Sue Stejskal, an MSU alum with a history of working with K‑9 dogs, is working with a team of MSU researchers to develop protocols to train dogs to detect honeybee diseases in hives and colonies, the report said.
Disease management and control for honeybees is extremely important for agriculture and commercial beekeepers, who help farms across the country with pollination, which is essential for growing food, the report said…