http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8638087/Puppy-stung-to-death-by-bees-prompts-fears-over-craze-for-bee-keeping.html

This is so sad. I keep bees and my dogs are never allowed anywhere near. I try to go into the hives when my neighbours are out at work and kids are at school, and if inspection days happen to fall on a weekend I will let my immediate neighbours know so that they can stay indoors if they prefer, although there is very little risk of anyone being stung (other than me, which happens regularly). The poor little thing must have jumped up to put its paws on the hive and knocked the super or brood box off by accident. The owner is totally irresponsible allowing her puppy to go out there unsupervised. I feel sorry for the beekeeper and the bees.

That is so sad.I have never,ever given it a thought but there is a bee keeping hobbiest with a few hive right next to a public foot path were I occasionally walk the woos.

Surely the dog should not have been able to get into the garden where the bees were. It sounds like there were no fences or other solid barriers.I would have been concerned that my dog or children for that matter could access some elses land never mind the risk with the bees.
What would have happen say for example it had been a deep pond and the dog could walk straight in to that and died ?
I make sure that my fences are secure so that my dogs dont go into adjoining land  So sad

My thoughts exactly.

It sounds like a nightmare situation with open access to the 3 gardens, not a great place for a dog anyway, bound to do a little garden hopping if not supervised which the dog obviously wasn't. They are obviously dressing it slightly for more sympathy by showing a sweet little BSD puppy with it's mother, (this was a 15 month old adolescent) it makes no difference to the poor dogs fate I know, but nevertheless still dressing to pull at the heart strings.

Knowing that there is a dog about personally I would have done more to protect the bees from harm, dogs will investigate noise, movement etc or it could quite simply have been running and bumped into the hive.

Both to blame IMO, the poor dogs owner should have made her garden more dog proof and the bee keeper should have done the same to protect the bees.

Very sad that a dog has lost it's life.................

there is a bee keeping hobbyist with a few hive right next to a public foot path

That's unusual--most beekeepers tend to keep their hives well away from people, not least because there have been increasing thefts of hives. In the main, bees will not trouble anyone passing by. Prior to swarming in May/June they may be edgy if they are hungry or running out of space in the hive, but otherwise they mind their own business, and although when bees do swarm they look scary the last thing they will do is attack since they have nothing to guard and are only interested in finding a new home. The trouble is when bees feel under attack, as with someone or something knocking over the hive, they will pursue you and if you are stung all the bees with it will try to do the same. Don't try to brush bees away if this happens--leave as fast as you can and kill the bees on you. I must have looked a right sight the other week slapping myself silly when half a dozen bees got under my hood. I had to run off and first get rid of the bees outside my suit before I could take my hood off to kill the ones caught in my hair, and most of them had already stung me.

You must be mad lol.  I don't like bees although i do tollerate them better now.

i was worried the other week when they were all on the clover where we were walking and the dogs being so close to the ground.  The puppys kept trying to go up and sniff them.  The odd time they made it to my horror but the bees left them alone.  maybe they know trhe dogs aren't a threat, it a high dog walk area.

Will have a read of the link after to see what happened.  My friends dog lost his hearing in one ear due to a bee sting.

Why don't you brush them off, which is the natural response to the little blighter being on you.

I have only just thought about it,and they have a large pyrenean mountain dog that roams the garden.They probabaly don't keep it the other end of the garden as ir is renoun for cars crashing through their boundry wall as it is on a nasty bend.

just read it, i can't see why its not the bee keepers fault, keeping in open gardens when housing round.  she had it wide open, Dogs are curious and could have even wandered there by mistake.  All the backyard bee keeping is bound to have some tragedy as its open to irrisponsible owners.  It give responsible bee keepers a bad name.  I'd hate a bee hive in my neighbours garden.

Why don't you brush them off, which is the natural response to the little blighter being on you

By all means try to brush it off if it's a single bee, but you are likely to get stung doing that--the point is that you are probably too close to the hive, so standing there while you try to get rid of it is a mistake. If there are lots of bees on you the first one to sting you will alert all the others that you are a major threat and they will sting you or die trying. The bee will die after it stings you so for the 'domestic' bee it really is the last resort.You can hear the difference--bees minding their own business having a pleasant day make a very relaxed buzzing sound, but when they are on the attack the noise is very high pitched and frantic. Running away gets rid of most of them because they will want to stay around to defend the hive. If they get caught in your hair 'clap' your hair, if you get what I mean. Just don't run into the house :)

Reikiangel, the BBKA produce extensive guidance on the location of hives and they would never recommend a site where there is open access to children, pets etc. My hives are about 30m from the nearest house and are surrounded on three sides by hedgerow with a gated fence at the bottom. I asked my immediate neighbours before I got the hives and showed them where they would be located. None of them have ever seen the bees in their gardens, mainly because bees are selective about food sources and lawns are no use at all. Bees leaving the hive fly in a specific direction and upwards, so they'd be well above head height in any case except where they are feeding or entering/leaving the hive. Beekeepers also need to carry insurance, a big advantage of joining the BBKA or local beekeepers association. I can understand that you don't like them and/or are afraid of them, but the vast majority of beekeepers manage their hives very carefully--not surprising when you think of the investment in cash and time that a hive represents.

I still dont think the bees should have been anywhere that there could be open access to the hives or the dog should not have been kept where is could just wander into the neighbours garden, it was an accident waiting to happen.
The only time i have seena hive on the move so to speak was when I was achild and suddenly the garden was filled with this black cloud or so it seemed. I remember mum rushing us indoors and shutting all the windows and doors. then ringing a neighbour who kept bees fro advice. No idea whathappened next but the went. Another time a swarm was found hanging form a tree, the same neighbour came to the rescues again
I must say all though large numbers of any insect bothers mee sitting in the garden with the odd bee buzzing past is so soothing

I can walk through loads of bees, but june bugs freak me out! A few weeks ago I went shrieking out of the park as they were everywhere and kept going in my hair. *shudders* I think the spanile ate his weight in them before we left though. eugh

Poor pup, what an awful way for it to die. :(

> Surely the dog should not have been able to get into the garden where the bees were

I agree.

The article reads as if the woman had left the dog outside while she was at work. Isn't it a dog owners responsibility to ensure thier dog does not stray/roam and to ensure it is secure when left alone??

"Mrs Connolly said she returned from work to find the dog struggling to get into the house. She let the puppy into the living room followed by a swarm of "thousands of angry bees"."

Poor young dog :( Buts its equaly sad that beekeepers will be getting stick over this. All for the sake of somebody not willing to take responsibility for thier own actions. If you choose to have a dog, you take on the responsibility to do all you can to keep it safe - leaving it unatended in an unsecure garden does not seem good enough to me.

I agree with Mastifflover too. Why doesn't 'death by misadventure' cover animals as well as people? That's clearly the case here, and if anyone's to blame it's the owner.

>extensive guidance on the location of hives and they would never recommend a site where there is open access to children, pets etc. My hives are about 30m from the nearest house and are surrounded on three sides by hedgerow with a gated fence at the bottom.

That sounds very safe and sensible to me.  that i think i could put up with, especially if i didn't know it was there, lol.

I still don't see why its not the bee keepers fault in this instance, the hive was in open access to people and housing.  the dog should be able to spend its time outside, admit its not a good idea if no enclosed garden but such close cloase proximity without any protection.

I hope any unsafe hives can be removed to somewhere safe for all (including the bees).

I can understand that you don't like them and/or are afraid

More afraid i think and no idea why.  I can let the odd one go about its business now near me and let them out the window if they come in without freaking too much manly so I don't scare the dogs.  Funilly enough the bee does seem to what i tell it.  Stay away and get under the net curtain then i tell it to go out the window with directions lol.  Honest.

To me this is a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. The bee hives probably shouldn't have been in a communal garden and personally I would never ever leave a dog unsupervised in a communal garden, certainly not while I went out to work (which I presume this dogs owner did from the article).