My Daughter has two pittbull dogs. One is an old gal, Kobi, she is 13 and is a powerhouse. She is my retired helper outside. She used to come with me and work (before Titan, the younger pittbull came along and replaced the work that she does). Before we had our back 3 acres of land cleared for agricultural purposes (we left groves of coniferous trees, and it is beautiful), she used to come out and work with me and pull out the little alders. I would bend the little trees over and cut the roots and she would finish it off by pulling them out. She did this for several years, then her teeth began to not be as good, and she had to retire that duty. She carried on with other duties, but that one was gone.
About 3 years ago she jumped over our yard fence and really hurt her hip. We took her to the vet and he said that she would need surgery to reattach a ligament. Right, $1,200. We'll do that one year, ha. She mended fairly well and still limped quite a bit. Last year she began to perform BVT on herself. She loves to catch flies, mice, anything that she can and she took up catching bees. She lies in wait outside near the flowers and any bee that passes too close to her she bites. They sting her and I watch her fling these bees away, after they have stung her. I know that she does this on purpose, and the small amount of bees that she gets is minimal, hee, hee.
The point of this is, is that this old gal is like a young pup again. She runs and plays, there is no limping or pain. I am sure that arthritis would have set in and this pain would have been great. She probably is arthritic, but she has natural pain relief.
I have noticed in the past two weeks that she is not as limber as she was in the summertime. So.....now is my duty to help this old gal along. I have to probably each day get a bee that may poke its head out of the colony and give the sting on the rump of this dog.
My colonies are strong.....I saw them several days ago having a wonderful day in the sunshine. They were many in numbers, hanging around the top and lower entrances, revelling in the warmth. My apiary is situated on a knoll, where they receive the full benefit of sun from the moment it comes up over the horizon to the end of the day when it disappears behind the trees. Even with the sun on the lower horizon in wintertime, the apiary still receives several hours of nice sunshine, when the sun does shine. These colonies can spare a few bees to make my Kobi girl painfree (oh yes, I have to put a couple on my knee too, eeeeeeekkkkkks!!!!!!). That is a tough one, to take that bee by the wings, place her on the spot that you know you want her to attack and carry forward. That takes guts, cause you know that burning sensation, and we all know that too well, :) :) :) ;) :evil: Have a wonderful day, beautiful day in this life. Cindi
My Kobi girl, another love of my life, who brings that smile to my face