Should I be concerned to let my dog around the hives? Do dogs get hurt really bad or in a dangerous way from bee stings?
Depends. I took my two dogs for a walk near my hives. The little black spaniel was attacked by several bees. The much larger, light colored greyhound was hardly bothered. I have heard honeybees don't like dark colors. Now I believe it.
Most dogs are fine. Some are allergic. My bichon has them land o. Him and does not sting him. He does not pay them any attention. And he is my drip picker upper.
John
I have dogs, chicken, cats, and birds and they all seem to get along. It is me in the white suit that they go after ... How come? Because I pose a threat to them. Yet in cooler weather my jacket is jet black and I can walk within inches of the hive and they don't care. I don't think color is that big a deal. I think intervention is the deal so if your dogs are mouthing off (like a cocker spaniel would) showing some aggression to the hive it might get taught a lesson. But you can't teach a cocker spaniel no matter what color it is.
I'm a vet - most bee stings for dogs will cause swelling (especially if they are stung on the head/face) which we usually treat with an antihistamine injection. If your dog is stung and you notice facial swelling or anything else unusual, head straight to a vet and it's normally a pretty easy fix.
I have a Golden Retreaver that has free run of the back yard where I have up to 12 hives. She hardly pays any attention to the bees. I watched our last Goldy stick his nose in the entrance of a hive the first time he was out there with them. No reaction what so ever even though I think he was stung. Never did it again.
Jim
My golden was popped on the nose by a scorpion as a puppy and has a healthy respect for not "sniffing" insects. But she pretty much ignores the hive to such an extent that she wanders around the hives wagging her tail and swiping any bees on the landing board...I have seen a few come after her and land on her but her coat is so thick they havent gotten to her and she ignores them as she ambles along on her doggy way.
My Black lab got stung as a pup when he snapped a bee.. his face swelled up, lips all puffy and his nose ran.. took him three days to return to normal.. he has been with me in the bee yards every day, from that day to this and as far as I know has never snapped another bee and has not been stung again.. though when the bees get riled if I have to work them more than usual, he retires to the deck about thirty yards away to watch. yeah, he is black, walks among the bees on a daily basis and more or less ignores them... Unless of course, i cut out comb that has honey in it, thats a whole nother story....
Everybody has a sweet tooth...
I will just leave my old 12 year old black lab out of the bees. She is old but curious still. As for my wild cats yeah they have all probably been stung as they have tried to catch the bees when they see them out.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-03/beekeeper-dog/4795960
My poor Bella is much to fat for that suite
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13260214_10209137225724742_4108919018066297151_n.jpg?oh=02888ef3288780362b434dcea531ce6d&oe=57CE5E44
This is my brother's Bella.
We have two great Danes. One of them is very smart about bees and just lays in the shade and watches me work. The other we call the "honey bear". If she gets a chance, she'll stick her head into a super and grab a bite of comb. She gets stung, of course, and then she'll run around rubbing her face in the grass. Then she'll do it again if she gets another chance.
When I had bees at the house...my dogs learned what not to do quick :shocked:
I have a mini poodle mix that I sometimes see shaking a paw and I'll occasionally pull a bee off, but she never seems to get swollen or hurt. She occasionally sticks her nose in a hive entrance but I don't think she's been stung that way. Makes me nervous, but she hasn't been hurt yet. However, I've been stung by a bee that hitched a ride into the house on her coat...
Dawn Bustanoby
Seattle, WA
http://www.playapixie.org
The worst was when my standard poodle got into a nest of ground hornets. They got into his curly fur so deep that you couldn't find them all and they were stinging him long after we were far away from the nest. I was finding hornets in his fur hours later. Anyway he didn't have a bad reaction except for the fact that he would not walk anywhere near where the hornet incident occurred for years afterward.
My Chester is a Wirehair Pointing Griffon. A birddog. Bees fly, so he's very interested in them. Interested enough to catch and eat them. Interested enough to get stung inside the mouth sometimes, or around his nose and ears. Interested enough in them that I use an old kennel to cage him out away from my hives! Apparently, bees are sweet and worth the occasional sting, by his way of thinking.
He mostly goes after the dying bees moving on the ground away from the hives, but will often snap at, and sometimes catch, those bees foolish enough to fly low within range.
Last year he came into the bee kennel while I was working on them and started sniffing at the entrance to my strongest hive and got several stings to the face. He hasn't done that since! But he will still eat them outside the cage and suffer the consequences.
I caught this on an African bee site.
It could well be p'shpd but given the general
quality of posts I do not think so.
I would have thought the pup died, asphyxiated (sp?)
but the poster just said "my poor dog".
Bill
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I know someone that had a dog die from bee stings last summer. It was a small dog and they had a nasty hive so the dog got stung multiple times. It generally isn't a problem if you have decent bees. The best thing is if the dog hasn't been around hives before they will generally run up and sniff the entrance and get stung. They usually don't want to go near the hives after that.
I had a black mixed breed, you know the generic black type with a curly tail and longish hair that would get stung any time she went near my hives. I ended up fencing the yard in to keep her out.