Apiary Inspections with Mack the dog

Apiary Inspector and Master Beekeeper Cybil Preston spoke at our June meeting about apiary inspections offered by the state and Mack the dog, who is trained in detecting American Foulbrood in hives. There are several apiary inspectors throughout the state of Maryland who help beekeepers maintain healthy hives.

Cybil Preston trained Mack to be an apiary inspector as well. Mack works in the cooler months, when the bees are clustered in their hive, and is able to expedite the inspection process by smelling each hive rather than the inspector having to go into a hive. Once Mack alerts on a hive, a sample is taken and sent to the USDA Beltsville Lab for analysis of the sample/disease. The hive is flagged until the disease is confirmed and then the inspector will work with the beekeeper to deal with the infected hives.