Hunter Valley apiarists Sam and Bianca Giggins are waging a 'personal battle' with American Foulbrood with the help of a family pet.
The proprietors of Williams River Honey are training their one-year-old Belgian Malinois pup 'Missy' to detect the disease in their hives.
At the annual Tocal Beekepers Field Day, in the NSW Lower Hunter Valley, Missy was mobbed for selfies following a demonstration.
Moving from hive to hive, Missy was able to successfully detect vials of the AFB bacteria contained in vials inside of stacked hives.
"When she finds the AFB, she marks that by sitting in front of that hive and her nose goes to the front of the entrance," Ms Giggins said.
"Then we click a little clicker - as dog training people might know - there's a little handheld clicker that we click for her.
"And then we food reward or play with her, so we keep her interested and keep her drive going."
While the training is still at a hobby stage for the Giggins family they hope Missy may one day serve the commercial sector.
"We've had it in our hives and it's a personal thing, a personal battle we've got against this AFB," Mr Giggins said.
Early and accurate detection essential
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) said AFB disease is the most serious brood disease of honey bees in New South Wales.
A technical specialist in bees at DPI Goulburn, Doug Somerville, said AFB is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae and is notifiable disease under the NSW Apiaries Act 1985.
"In Australia it has been found in all states," Mr Somerville said.
"There is a persistent low level of infection in NSW," Mr Somerville said.
"Early and accurate diagnosis of this disease is essential if control is to be effective."
Mr Giggins told attendees at the Tocal Beekeepers' Field Day that Missy could one day be used as part of regulation.
"The cost to the bee keeper also is significant, especially on a commercial level," he said.
"If this is your primary source of income, and you pick up this disease, it's a huge problem."
"Pollination contracts require strong, healthy honeybee colonies in order to achieve high crop yields.
"That's where we think Missy could come into play to help."
Family pet first and foremost
Missy was purchased first and foremost as a family pet for the Giggins children Frankie, 10, Georgie, 4, and Clancy 2.
"Sam's got a military background, and he's worked with Belgian Malinois before, so he wanted a dog that he knew a little bit about," Ms Giggins said.
Although the Giggins family has only been keeping bees for three years - producing honey, its own queens and training services - bees have a long association with the family.
"I've been into bees as a child," Mr Giggins said, "working bees out near Bathurst in a farm with my grandfather, and my interest in bees has grown ever since."
Although using dogs for detection of AFB was not new, Mr Giggins believes it is the first time that a Belgian Malinois had been trained for the task.
"To the best of our knowledge no-one's ever tried to use a Belgian Malinois on scent detection for bee hives," he said.
As part of industry regulation, the DPI scans fields and orchards looking for disease through commercial cropping times.
The Giggins hope Missy might one day aid and assist the initial sweeping of hives as part of regulatory inspections.
"More recently, the amount of interest we've had in it is more coming from the actual commercial bee keepers themselves," Mr Giggins said.
"They're interested in using Missy for sweeping through the aviaries prior to going on to a pollination contract."
Scent detection work not without risk
Mr Giggins said using scent detection dogs to do the work doesn't come without risk to animals.
"In South Australia, there was a trial done on a scent detection dog that did develop a phobia from getting stung," Mr Giggins said.
"So that's a that's a future drama that we need to tackle with Missy."
The Giggins's had bought a veil to protect Missy from bee stings.
"She didn't fancy it too much when I put it on her for the first time," Mr Giggins said.
"But that's the next phase, conditioning her to being used to wearing protection, and working live commercial sized aviaries."
