In a message dated 6/13/01 8:19:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Unanticipated things can happen to provoke bees and
 they are not always discriminating or predictable in the chosen targets of
their
 defensive behaviour -- or the extent of their reaction. >>

   Good post, Allen.  I too would worry, if my neighbor had confined dogs
within a few feet of my bee hives. While there is not likely to be a problem
364 days of the year, the problem could occur on the 365th and be a major
one, if the dogs could not escape. Bees that are normally very good bees can
have a bad day.  We had a dog killed near here a few years back and it
resulted in a lawsuit, even though the true culprit was probably not the
hives, but a hanging, dry swarm.

   My own dog, Missy, is around bees all the time, but she is free to move.
She pays them no attention and they usually don't bother her, even when she
walks in front of hives. When they get after her, she lays under the truck or
goes into the woods. We loaded a tractor-trailer recently and she was pretty
laid back, even though the bees were thick in the air. After about an hour,
she got popped and she went under the truck.

    We've got a cute photo of her with a bee veil on....


Dave Green
An Aphid's Nightmare:  http://pollinator.com/gallery/June/ladybug.htm