Labrador Retriever Helps His Mom with Backyard Beekeeping

Moose the golden Labrador Retriever has a passion for beekeeping and for honey. So much so that his mom Tracey Brindley decided she had to take some precautions for the safety of her one-year-old dog and her bees.

Brindley is a backyard beekeeper in Edmonton, Alberta. When she noticed how curious Moose was about what she was up to, she was worried her “helper” might get stung. So she figured out a way for him to join her in the backyard by fashioning him his very own beekeeper outfit.

Moose loves helping his mom so much Brindley says she might have him help deliver the honey in the neighborhood.

Moose isn’t the first dog to get his very own beekeeper outfit. A black Labrador named Bazz got a suit that protected him from head to toe. His dad, Josh Kennett from Australia, trained him to sniff out American foulbrood disease, a fatal disease that can decimate bee populations if it isn’t detected early.

In the United States, apiary dogs successfully sniff out the disease. But Kennett had an unusual challenge that his US counterparts do not. He had to figure out a way to protect Bazz from being stung, so he developed a unique suit for his dog.

Kennett explained to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, why in the US, such suits for their dogs are not necessary. “Their winters are far colder than ours, with snow over the top of beehives,” he said. “We don’t have that situation here in South Australia. So I’ve tried to develop a suit the dog can wear and hopefully avoid being stung.”

Kennett said it was a long process to develop the suit, but he finally got a working prototype that Bazz could get used to wearing. Kennett said he’s proven the concept and Bazz found the infected hives wearing his protective, one-of-a-kind suit.