By Rob Williams, The Independent
Dogs and bees, bees and dogs – it’s not a combination that immediately suggests harmony.
Indeed for Bazz, a sniffer dog charged with helping detect the bee disease American foulbrood, the combination could have resulted in him being chased away from the hive by a swarm of aggressive bees.
That was the problem until his owner, Josh Kennett, designed a special beekeeping suit to protect him.
Mr Kennett now has a working prototype for his suit which is designed to protect Bazz as he attempts to detect the devastating disease which wipes out beehives.
After a lengthy training regime Bazz is now ready to take on the challenge and begin detecting the disease: “We’ve now proven the concept, he can find the infected hives”, Mr Kennett told ABC Australia.
“The only challenge now is getting the dog comfortable with the suit. It’s hard to change a dog’s habits overnight.
This article was written by Rob Williams and published in The Independent. Photo by Bee of Bright Beehive/Flickr.
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