On Mar 26,  7:03am, aarcher wrote:
> Subject: Domestic animals and bees-Epilepsy
> Dear Group,
> Are there any beekeepers out there who have pets ( cats and small dogs)
> that live near your apiaries.  How do they get along with the bees?
 
For us, this hasn't been a problem.  We have two large black dogs and a few
cats.  The dogs came out to work the bees with me when I first got the hives a
few years ago.  After several stings each around the nose, they go hide
whenever the suit or smoker comes out now.  I remember watching them both
running away from a cloud of angry bees, looking back over their shoulders and
yelping as they went.
 
Our cats disappear too when the bee stuff comes out.  Stings didn't hurt them
either.  We have one cat who thought it was fun to sit by a hive entrance and
bat down returning foragers, but the fun didn't last long, and now he doesn't
do this anymore.
 
Kris Bruland
Member of Mt. Baker Beekeepers Association
Bellingham, WA  U.S.A.