The Elephants and Bees Project is an innovative study conducted by Save the Elephants that uses an in-depth understanding of elephant behaviour to reduce damage from crop-raiding elephants using their instinctive avoidance of African honey bees. The project explores the use of novel Beehive Fences as a natural elephant deterrent. The first project used the first design of a beehive fence using beautiful, traditional but old, log beehives. Two other projects followed and results show that crop-raiding of elephants has been successfully reduced in the beehive fence protected farms, plus an “Elephant-friend Honey” has resulted in social and economic books in poverty-stricken rural communities.
The Guardian has a wonderful gallery of images from the project, and you can read about the full study: “Impact of Drought and Development on the Effectiveness of Beehive Fences as Elephant Deterrents Over Nine Years in Kenya” (Conservation Science and Practice).
