Buzz-worthy: Spartan research saves the bees

It is not an easy task: putting a bee suit on a dog. But on a warm July morning, Sue Stejskal is maneuvering a mesh veil over the floppy ears and sudden movements of Maple, an English Springer Spaniel who is panting with delight as she prepares to show off her skills. 

Maple, a retired K9, donning her bee suit at the Pollinator Performance Center. Photo by Greg Kohuth

They are at the Michigan State University Pollinator Performance Center on the south side of MSU’s campus. Through a partnership among the Department of Entomology, MSU AgBioResearch and MSU Extension, the center, which houses a honey extraction facility, is the 15-acre home to MSU’s pollinator studies, teaching, outreach and many pollinator-related field experiments. Just outside the facility, Maple, donning her makeshift bee suit, is about to inspect multiple colony boxes. On this day, no bees are in those colonies, but one of them will contain the scent of American foulbrood, or AFB, a spore-forming bacteria that is highly contagious and destructive for honeybee larvae. Maple’s task is to sniff out the AFB. She zigzags from box to box with Stejskal holding a lead before sitting and lifting a paw in front of a colony. 

“Good dog,” Stejskal says, then throws Maple a dog toy. Maple’s snout was successful. She identified the colony with the bacteria. Stejskal, an MSU alum who has worked with many K-9 dogs throughout her career, is working with a team of MSU researchers to develop training protocols for dogs who detect honeybee diseases in hives and colonies.

The project, which is supported by the Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture, could have a wide-ranging impact. Currently, commercial beekeepers manually inspect hundreds of colonies to search for AFB, which could take hours. A dog like Maple, however, could sniff out multiple colonies in a much shorter period. AFB can be devastating to colonies, so finding the disease while in its early stages can save millions of bees.

This project is one of many occurring at the Pollinator Performance Center. Operating since 2021, the center ensures that MSU remains at the forefront of honeybee and other pollinator research. As pollinator health becomes an increasingly urgent global issue, the center plays a critical role in protecting species that help sustain our food systems and ecosystems.

A research home for bees

From dairy cattle and pigs to horses and, yes, bees, the farms on south campus are used for teaching, research and outreach. The Pollinator Performance Center is just up the road from the soon-to-be-completed Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center on College Road. 

During summer months the center is responsible for about 10 million honeybees, which are located at various campus locations, including the pollinator center and the Student Organic Farm, according to Daniel Wyns. Wyns is the farm manager of the Pollinator Performance Center, where, he says, he “handles bee management, honey extraction and communication with researchers conducting experiments and projects at the center.” 

Meghan Milbrath (foreground) at a beekeeping demonstration at the Student Organic Farm. Photo by Nick Schrader

Meghan Milbrath is one of those researchers. Milbrath is an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology. Focusing on a combination of field, lab and computational work, her lab studies risk factors that affect the health of honeybees and other pollinators. Before 2021, Milbrath spent much of her time beekeeping so that she could conduct research. Today, with Wyns managing the bees, Milbrath has much more time to concentrate on her research.

Focusing on disease management and control for honeybees is extremely important for agriculture and commercial beekeepers, who help farms across the country with pollinators. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male parts of a flower to the female parts of a flower of the same species, which results in fertilization of plant ovaries and the production of seeds. It is essential for plant production and for growing food.

Milbrath and the center are also taking on projects with more targeted scopes. One project is looking at whether propolis, a sticky product made by bees to seal unwanted open areas, can be used as an alternative to antibiotics in turkey feeds. A 2024 study examined how extreme heat during bloom affects pollen in ways that harm native pollinator reproduction and survival. And, of course, Milbrath is working with Stejskal and Maple to help others with disease detection. The opening of the center in 2021 has been a boon for Milbrath, who often contributes to MSU Extension’s Beekeeping and Pollinators website.

“Having Dan means that I can come in and set up a research project or teach a class,” Milbrath says. “Since the center opened, research, education and teaching have gone way up.”

Teaching amid the buzz

Education and teaching are important parts of the center, and being so close to main campus has made things easier for Milbrath and her work with the College of Veterinary Medicine, where she teaches a course for veterinary students and is the faculty advisor for a student honeybee club.

A beekeeping class at the Student Organic Farm. Photo by Nick Schrader

MSU has the longest running and most robust honeybee medicine training program for veterinary students in the country. It is important that veterinarians are familiar with honeybees and their diseases because federal legislation requires that beekeepers work with veterinarians to acquire medicine for sick honeybee colonies.

Since 2018, the College of Veterinary Medicine has held an annual rotation for fourth-year veterinary students and a veterinary student bee club for second- and third-year students to provide future veterinarians training on how to provide care to bees and support beekeepers.

Through MSU Extension, Milbrath also gives beekeeping demonstrations to student groups and others public organizations.  

The Pollinator Performance Center brings bees right to the students, making for a hands-on learning experience. The center also has an impact on students throughout campus in another way: by sharing the honey the bees produce. 

Spartan honey is sweeter

Back at the Pollinator Performance Center, Wyns steps into the honey extraction facility. The sweet smell of honey and wax wafts from bee colony frames that he collected from fields the day before — minus the bees, of course. He takes the frames one by one and puts them into an industrial machine that hums once he turns it on. Over multiple steps, the machine extracts honey from the frames, separating it from the wax to ooze into a vat. Then, Wyns fills jars and jugs of honey.

From there, that honey heads to the dining halls across campus. Last year, the center sent 620 gallons (about 7,500 pounds) of honey to MSU Food Stores, which sent most of that to residence halls, where it’s enjoyed by students. 

“It gets a little repetitive,” Wyns says of the honey extraction process, “but it’s a great thing that we’re able to share this resource with the community.” 

Good dogs and healthy bees

Maple is out of her bee suit at the farm. Done with her job sniffing out American foulbrood for the moment, she’s chasing her Spartan-branded chew toy that Stejskal tosses for her.

Sue Stejskal and Maple demonstrate Maple's ability to sniff out American Foulbrood at the Pollinator Performance Center. Photo by Greg Kohuth

This is Maple’s second career. Now almost 10, she used to be a K-9 police dog who searched for missing persons. Once on a case in Northern Ontario, she was out of sight of Stejskal and fell; injured, she was forced to medically retire. Thanks in part to physical therapy from the vets at MSU, Maple is doing much better now, even if she can’t run as far as she used to.

A loss for the K-9 unit was a gain for beekeepers. Projects like this represent the type of work that is made possible by the Pollinator Performance Center. Going forward, Milbrath and other researchers at MSU are eager to help solve the evolving challenges facing beekeepers and bees.

Plus, it brings honey and dogs in bee suits to campus, which is pretty sweet.