Michigan State University uses man’s best friend to aid in bee research

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Dogs are known as man’s best friend, but some are more than just a fluffy companion.

One dog is doing some unique work for Michigan State University (MSU) to help the bee population.

Maple is a 9-year-old springer spaniel who spent seven years working as a police dog.

After suffering an injury on the job, Maple’s handler said she needed something else to keep her busy.

“She’s a very over-the-top, enthusiastic, sometimes hard-to-live-with dog because of her energy level,” said Sue Stejskal, Maple’s handler.

Maple has a unique skill set that she is now utilizing to assist MSU researchers in identifying bacteria in bee colonies.

“The target disease that we’re starting in is the American foulbrood. This particular bacteria harms the brood, which is the young developing bees, and when a hive gets infected, it actually basically leads to death,” said Meghan Milbrath, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology.

Milbrath said the bacteria are harmful to both bee populations and beekeepers.

“Not only do they have the loss of the animal, the loss of that potential honey crop, but then they also will have to burn that equipment. There are beekeepers who have had to burn tens of thousands of dollars of equipment due to this disease,” said Milbrath.

To find this bacteria, beekeepers have to go through individual hives and search for it.

Now, Maple is doing all the hard work.

“They have, you know, potentially thousands or even over 10,000 honey bee colonies. The idea with a dog is that they could go through a yard and screen for it much more quickly. So they could easily identify it within minutes which hives need to be checked,” said Milbrath.

The goal of training Maple is to create a guidebook for training other dogs to spot this bacteria.

While this bacteria is a major threat, it’s not the only one. Pesticides and poor nutrition are also contributing to bee population declines in Michigan and across the U.S.

Michigan alone is home to 465 native bee species.

Some things to help the bees include planting a pollinator garden and reducing pesticide use.

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