Sniff. Pant. 

Pant. Sniff, sniff!

Maple’s nose works hard under her veil in Michigan. Yep, she’s a dog wearing a veil. Her job? Save the bees. 

Maple is part of a training program for dogs. Pups in the program learn to use their sensitive noses to find American foulbrood. 

American foulbrood is a bacterial disease. It hurts honeybee larvae. Helping bee larvae helps bee populations survive. And helping bee populations helps people survive. Humans rely on honeybees to pollinate their food as it grows. 

Maple is causing quite a buzz. She is a nine-year-old English springer spaniel. 

Dogs need protective gear just like beekeepers do. Maple’s owner and trainer, Sue Stejskal, puts her into a yellow protective suit. The suit includes a veil to guard Maple’s head, plus four booties in case she steps on a bee. “You can’t buy them on Amazon for dogs,” jokes Ms. Stejskal. “So, there’s been some altering and testing.”

Maple once worked as a police dog. She got hurt on the job and retired in 2024. But then a bee-disease-hunting gig came along. 

Maple races between hive boxes. She finds the scent clue left for her. Maple stops at the box and looks up at Ms. Stejskal.

“Good girl. Yes,” Ms. Stejskal says. She removes Maple’s veil. She tosses a green toy to the pooch. She has taught Maple a new trick—one that will help protect bees from sickness.

Ms. Stejskal is thrilled that Maple has a new job after her injury. She says, “I was over-the-Moon excited, because my dog would still have joy in her life and would still be able to work.”

Why? We think of dogs as “man’s best friend.” They can be lovely companions for people. But God made dogs able to help many kinds of creatures.