[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask]) writes:
<If you want an activity that bonds you to your dog and work as a team -
take up tracking.>
Peter Looks like the quotes fell out of my original message. I was
simply responding to a question about dogs and AFB, saying that I've actually
seen dogs trained to find AFB working an apiary.
I didn't know you trained dogs. Getting to the level that you describe is
an achievement by both you and your dog.
Your dog can do things our bees can't, but we can train our bees to a new
scent faster than you can train your dog. It now takes us 30 minutes to
1-2 hours to train a colony, starting from complete scratch - any colony,
anywhere. Once we've trained a colony to search for an odor, the number of
bees in our search force builds up over time, peaking in about 48 hrs, then
holds stable for as long as we want (days, weeks). Once trained, we can
switch a colony to search for a new scent in about 1 hour.
I use a laser for locating each bee, instead of controlling them with a
leash. Haven't figured out how to get them to sit, though. Last summer's
big accomplishment was delivery of two lasers with centimeter accuracy and
embedded mapping software.
My laser leash is 100-150 m (yards) long. We can accurately locate bees
to within a few centimeters (inches) as far as 1 mile away. However, that
takes a powerful laser, and it is definitely not eye-safe. We tune our
instruments to maintain eye-safety, but to ensure that eye-safety, we have to
give up power and distance. Still, 100-150 m or yards is better than a
25-30 ft leash for landmine and UXO field work.
Our tests indicate that both dogs and bees are better at odor detection
than any instrument - so much so, its impossible to reliably assess the lower
limit of detection for either animal. We've discrimination at parts per
quadrillion for some explosives, using bees.
Only problem with bees, I haven't seen any bonding.
Jerry
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