pros and cons of nest finding dogs

[Sam Droege]

All

Kim's post got me thinking again about the use of dogs in finding bumble bee nests.

I know there have been several efforts over the past decade in the UK and the U.S (likely elsewhere) but yet I don't hear of recent success stories using them (but I may have missed those stories).  I believe there are several people on the listserv who have had experience and I think the group would benefit from hearing of their experiences.

Several questions come to mind.

What is the discovery rate of nests for a dog versus from an experienced bumble bee nest finder?

How much does it cost to train such dogs?

What is the success rate of training dogs (i.e. are some dogs/breeds just bad or good at this job)?

Built into these equations are costs.  

Do costs of training or renting such dogs offset technician time?

How long can these dogs work in a day?

Are there habitat/bee species situations that are more or less suited to dog discoverly of nests?

Finally there are less quantifiable issues.

Dogs are not insect nets, they cannot be put on a shelf but will need love, food, and care for many years even if they don't find a single nest. 

I look forward to the thoughts.   Please go ahead and reply to the whole list, not just me.

sam

DOG, n. A kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the
overflow and surplus of the world's worship. This Divine Being in some of his
smaller and silkier incarnations takes, in the affection of Woman, the place
to which there is no human male aspirant. The Dog is a survival -- an
anachronism. He toils not, neither does he spin, yet Solomon in all his glory
never lay upon a door-mat all day long, sun-soaked and fly-fed and fat, while
his master worked for the means wherewith to purchase the idle wag of the
Solomonic tail, seasoned with a look of tolerant recognition.
       -  Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911: 

[Jim Bess]

Hi All,

 

Here's a link to the "Conservation Dog Collective" and their bumblebee program:

https://www.conservationdogscollective.org/bumble-bee-nest-program

 

Cheers,

 

Jim

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[Kit Prendergast]

Hi Sam,

I think when it comes to Bombus humans are probably fairly comparable , but other ground nesting bees … potentially much harder . For example the three listed species of bees in Aus - all ground nesting (Leioproctus) but no one has ever found their nests. So maybe detection dogs would be more effective here than an observer walking back and forth through bush hoping to see a female enter / exit a burrow . 

I would be keen to hear of the success rate of dogs being used for Bombus nest finding if such data is out there for sure (negative outcomes are still just as useful in conversation!). But I do think if dogs can detect scats of koalas with chlamydia, there’s a chance ! It may not be species specific though eg all Bombus / all Leioproctus are fairly similar smelling (my ape nose unfortunately cannot tell, apart from Hylaeinae and Megachile leaving a characteristic odor each in my specimen jars). If I recall there was a meme going around of a failed narc detection dog who sniffed out diseased honey bee hives ?

As to dog upkeep - conservation dogs that I know of are well loved and looked after . I for one will happily adopt any “failed” bee detection dogs … but it’s still an ethical consideration that needs to be had. 

Best, 

Kit 

Dr Kit Prendergast

Native bee scientist, conservation biologist and zoologist

University of Southern QLD Postdoctoral Researcher (Pollination Ecology)

Adjunct Curtin University and Forrest Scholar Alumni

Find native bee resources and more on my Patreon The Bee Babette: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheBeeBabette

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[Diane Larson]

I've been interested in this topic for some time and was able to easily train my scentwork dog on bumble bee nest material that was given to me from a commercial nest.  My understanding is that dogs do not differentiate bumble bee species, but alert on some other factor present in the nest.  The limiting factor is finding enough known, in situ nests to proof the dog on before she could be deployed in any kind of unknown search.  On reflection, though, I am now hesitant to have my dog trying to source nests in areas with venomous snakes (where I now live).  When she searches, she is very much "on task" and could easily run into trouble without recognizing it.  The best paper I've found on this topic is 

Liczner, A. R., V. J. MacPhail, D. A. Woollett, N. L. Richards, and S. R. Colla. 2021. Training and usage of detection dogs to better understand bumble bee nesting habitat: Challenges and opportunities. Plos One 16:18.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249248.

Diane

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Diane L. Larson, PhD

U.S. Geological Survey, Retired