Labrador Retriever Takes Care of Bees in Beekeeper Suit

Thanks to Ginny Kinney for this Report!!

Bazz is a specially-trained beekeeper. Photo: Josh Kennett A Labrador Retriever named Bazz is assisting a beekeeper in South Australia keeping beehives and bees healthy. Josh Kennett keeps beekhives in Tintinara and wanted an effective way to control American foulbrood, a bee disease that destroys beehives if they are not quarantined. In the United States, apiary dogs successfully sniff out the disease. But Josh had an unusual challenge that his US counterparts do not. He had to figure out a way to protect Bazz from being stung, so he developed a unique suit for his dog. Josh explained to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, why in the US, such suits for their dogs are not necessary. "Their winters are far colder than ours, with snow over the top of beehives," he said. "We don't have that situation here in South Australia. So I've tried to develop a suit the dog can wear and hopefully avoid being stung." Josh said it was a long process to develop the suit, but he finally got a working prototype and has been getting Bazz used to wearing it. Josh said he's proven the concept and Bazz can find the infected hives wearing his protective, one-of-a-kind suit. Listen to Josh's interview with ABC Radio here (MP3 file).
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