It would take a whole day to inspect just 45 hives for AFB which could be drastically reduced with the application of a new research project.

The new project conducted by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) has found an efficient alternative to human inspections as part of their Honeybee Research and Development (R&D) Project by taking advantage of the canine sense of smell and training a sniffer dog to detect AFB.

Local Dubbo beekeeper Keiren Sunderland said this alternative was used in America some years ago, but had been rather slow to develop in Australia.

"It had good success in winter because the bees were in hybernation," Mr Sunderland said.

Springer Spaniel Elroy is currently undergoing training with specialist trainer Martin Dominick at Queensland's K9 Centre and is expected to be able to inspect 100 hives in just 45 minutes.

Despite the lack of information available about the technique used in America and whether it was successful or not, Mr Sunderland explained that it could work well for apiarists.

"It could work out to be pretty cheap," he said.

He added that it could also be more efficent by allowing a higher annual inspection rate.

"Most inspect (their hives) maybe two or three times a year," Mr Sunderland said.

"This could increase the inspection rate to maybe five or six times a year."