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$90.00 – $95.00How can a AFB dog help you and your bees?
A afb dog is a great tool for the beginner and the pro alike, The detector dog is trained to detect the scent of american foul brood before the infection is visual giving the beekeeper time to take PROACTIVE action against afb, at this time a AFB detector dog is the only previsual warning you have against american foulbrood.
if you want to read more about AFB dogs click here
“Id never heard of a AFB dog but after seeing it work i'm a believer.”
a bit more about our take on afb
Whether you are hobbyist or commercial beekeeper, American Foulbrood (AFB) can be difficult to spot and differentiate from other diseases. The difference between AFB and other disease, is whether or not you burn your hive, hiveware and honey.
Our AFB trained sniffer dog Baxter can sniff out an infectious AFB spore load, just like the dogs on TVNZ’s “Dog Squad” sniff out explosives and drugs. He can even sniff AFB at a pre-clinical (pre-visual) level, allowing the beekeeper a “heads up” on what to visually inspect again and keep an eye on. Those that are not showing visual symptoms can be quarantined until symptoms DO develop, saving spread to non-contaminated hives.Baxter can check up to 100 hives on a site within 15 minutes, indicating the presence of AFB by sitting next to the hive or hive set she can smell AFB spores in.
As a bacterial infection, AFB losses are NOT covered by insurance – Meaning it is solely up to the beekeeper to protect and manage their stock. with all the hype around Raw Manuka Honey nz AFB is on the rise and you can’t be too careful don’t let all the beekeepers after the Raw Manuka Honey nz derail your beehives health.
AFB and its spread can not be eradicated unless infected colonies are destroyed faster than new colonies are infected which is only possible through early and accurate detection, quarantine and elimination.
AFB dog services are DECA qualified. Apart from sniffing out AFB, we offer forward planning for eliminating AFB from your outfit. Weather you are a hobbyist looking for peace of mind, or a commercial operator looking for an efficient, accurate, cost effective business tool our AFB sniffer dog Baxter and her handler can help you protect your hives.
SOME faqs
An AFB sniffer dog is one of the very few tools available to beekeepers to keep the elimination rate of AFB lower than the reinfection rate. They specialise in picking up infectious spore loads that have not yet manifested into visual symptoms. The current law states that you must burn them once there are visual symptoms, and those are sometimes missed when they are as few as one or two sticky cells, so using the dogs to quarantine before this happens is the only method of pre visual detection available apart from expensive and time consuming individual PCR/DNA testing. Time between checks can have those few missed cells develop very quickly so frequent checks are a must whether manual or dog led.
We will book a night with you to come and check your live hives when the bees are not flying. (under 10 degrees) Don’t worry! It won’t take long at ALL so we won’t keep you up too late. We are also happy to visit while you are in bed and just mark the hives, but most people like to see Tara in action.. We will set Tara to task on your apiary and Tara will indicate the presence of the scent of AFB by sitting near the hive or hive set she smells the target scent in. We will follow her closely, rewarding any finds and marking any hives or sets indicated on. In the case of empty gear such as dead outs or second hand gear, the same applies but may be done in the day time. Minimising Taras exposure to stings is why we work at night or on dead outs. She has no suit so we need to make sure she wants to come to work!
Like beekeeping and visual checks, the longest part of the checks process is the travel to, from and between apiaries. The checks themselves are done very quickly. Not many people have large sites, but sniffer dogs can check an apiary of 100 in under 10 minutes flat!
Very simply, we mark that hive. Shutting down that hive entrance right away with a breathable mouse guard is highly recommended. The hive that is marked will need a thorough visual inspection as soon as possible – preferably the very next day as time is of the essence. This inspection may be done by anyone of your choice but make sure it is thorough – a single infected cell may be the cause of indication. If visual symptoms are detected then it must be reported to the AFB PMP board and destroyed to PMP guidelines within 7 days. And we can sniff test your hives in the early morning and stay until daybreak to do your visual checks if that is your preference, otherwise they will be marked for checking at your discretion.
IF VISUAL SYMPTOMS ARE NOT FOUND: The law states to destroy on VISUAL clinical symptoms only. However, the sniffer dogs indications have not to date yet failed to develop visual symptoms in the period of 2 – 18 months later. Therefore, you are within your legal right not to burn them HOWEVER we strongly, strongly suggest that you quarantine these hives separate from your healthy stock as a minimum . It is your call as to whether or not you use your initiative to burn them. If you choose to quarantine, keep a close eye on them. If Tara indicates to mark a hive/set, we will rebook with you incrementally
No. The sniffer dog is a complementary tool in the arsenal against AFB, most notably its ability to give you a heads up on pre visual symptoms and increased inspection ability due to time efficiency. This is a great way to increase and intensify your twice yearly checks, and increase your engagement as a beekeeper in your hive health. As of Spring 2018, sniffer dog checks with an AFB dog are not an allowable replacement for your yearly visual checks. We will let you know if that changes, but for now, ensure hives are inspected for AFB by an approved beekeeper with a DECA provided to the Management Agency by 30th of November annually ( Unless there is a certificate of inspection exemption) We are DECA qualified and can be booked for visual DECA checks as well as sniffing, together or separately.
Well not all are created equal but our trainer has the process down its mainly down to the handler, but read our full write up here on there proficiency and training here
Even more on bees
contract managment
We offer full AFB contract management for long term management of AFB. This includes initial assessment, return visits and organised monitoring, quarantines for non visual infections, DECA, sniffer dog services, removal and destruction of infected hives and replacement healthy hives. Call or email with your details for a no obligations estimate.
hive removal and destruction
We offer hive removal and destruction. The correct destruction of an AFB infected hive requires a hole to be dug, the hives and all their components set on fire inside the hole, and after thoroughly burning away all parts, the ashes must be buried.More than a few hives can be an all day job. Our latest Deca agreement allows this and we can do the job of removing hives from your property and burning them off site. $1.30 per km travel and minimum charge of $500 for the day which will cover up to 10 hives. An additional $50 per hive after 10 hives. As hives must be destroyed within 7 days of symptom discovery we will burn the day we pick up.
operational advice
We also offer operational advice on what to do and use to keep your hives healthy and AFB free. To date, we have not yet found AFB in our original operation and have made it our priority since before going commercial to learn all we can about AFB and the best practices and products to keep it out of our operations. We are happy to assess your hives and see how you can better utilise tools and practice to keep AFB free. No one wants to burn their bees.
hobbyist
Are you a hobby beekeeper or single apiary? We understand that the sniffer dog services are more economical as a commercial tool, however, we work with local bee club members to do neighbourhood group checks.. If you are a beeclub member or if you are a hobby beekeeper, contact us with your individual details and we will work out a price for you. A few hives can be checked in a few minutes. We believe that everyone whom is our neighbour, is in our flight zone and should benefit from healthy hives.
confidential
We understand the sensitivity around discovery of AFB and all of our clients, enquiries and their AFB status and services rendered from us remain 100% confidential. Our objective is to contribute positively to the beekeeping community through action. Dog sniffing is just one step of putting action plans in place for beekeepers who suffer from AFB.
