07/29/2025
Maple is part of the team at MSU’s Pollinator Performance Center doing critical pollinator research and education. A retired police K-9, she uses her super sense of smell to detect bacteria in bee colonies to help prevent disease from spreading.
Currently, beekeepers must manually inspect colonies for disease, but dogs like Maple can identify disease much faster, which could make a big impact on the industry.
This project is one of many occurring at the Pollinator Performance Center. Operating since 2021, the center allows MSU to be at the forefront of honeybee and other pollinator research.
