The tiny Bumble Bee frightens the mighty Pachyderm – the African Elephant – even the sound of bees alone will frighten them away– all over Africa Bee Fences are being erected to keep Elephants from Human Settlements – saving the crops of villagers and allowing them to make a living and there is an added blessing from having fences made of bees – income from the honey of the bees going to the local community. Fences created with Beee- Hiives keeps elephants at bay, keep them out of fields and gardens, away from the crops protecting villages that are near wildlife parks such as Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. Biologists have exploited this to design a beehive fence system. This is a reality in some communities in Africa where, as wild spaces shrink, people and elephants are competing for space and resources like never before. Elephants have an innate aversion to bees. The Elephants and Bees Project is part of the Save the Elephants’ Human Elephant Coexistence Program, based in Sagalla, Kenya, next to Tsavo National Park. The beehives are connected to each other with strong wires. The fence is set up off the ground at chest height and contains hives spaced every 10 metres. Because they can identify bees by sound alone, “they may associate the sound with a … 8 February 2012. Here we present results from a pilot study conducted to evaluate the concept of using beehives to mitigate elephant crop depredation. They go out of their way to avoid them. Where did it come from? Bull elephants close in on a human settlement. Crops such as soy bean, maize, pineapple, peanuts, cotton, bananas have been lost to the Elephants – the struggle between man and beast was being won by the Elephants – all efforts to stop their nightly onslaught were futile but one – fences made of bees – yes you read right – fences made of bees -the Bee  Fences keep Elephants from the Crops and Villages. The bees aren't likely to be able to sting though an elephant's thick hide. Previous work has shown that African elephants Loxodonta africana will avoid African honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata. Another similar-sized control farm nearby was left unfenced. A simple fence made from wood, wire and beehives can deter elephants from raiding farmers' crops. The design is based on the idea that elephants are wary of honey bees in the wild. A severe year-long drought in the region has hampered the team's efforts to conduct a much wider trial of the fence, using a different hive design that should produce more honey. Elephants and Bees is an organization that uses african bees to reduce the problem of elephants destroying crops on small farms in Africa and Asia. Bee Fences keep Elephants from the Crops and Villages and reduce the conflict of humans living close to Wildlife Parks with Elephants. "The fence deterred a significant portion of elephants," King told Earth News, speaking from her tent in the Kenyan bush. Many things had been tried but only one seems to be effective – Bees. The elephants break into the farms and raid them for food such as ripe tomatoes, potatoes and maize. Science & Environment, Northern Rangeland Elephant: BBC Wildlife Fund, Beehive fence deters crop raiding elephants: African Journal of Ecology. Around the side of one farm, nine traditional log beehives were hung under small thatched roofs, with each being linked by wire. Elephants cannot stand bees and a bee-fence is incredible at keeping elephants out of your crops. Note – an additional way to prevent Elephants raiding crops – Uganda Wildlife Authority Rangers have been handing out vuvuzela trumpets, they work well because it has the effect of irritating the elephant without intimidating it. What did the Copenhagen climate summit achieve. Elephants can destroy a farmers’ entire livelihood in a matter of minutes, eating and trampling crops, but a beehive fence can help deter crop-raiding by up to 80%. Science & Environment, 14 Jan 09 |  The number of hives occupied by bees along the fence was the best predictor of elephants’ visits to farms. Photo courtesy of Save the Elephants’ Elephants and Bees Project. Elephants are vulnerable to stings on their tender body parts like the trunk and the herds prefer to stay away from bee hives, it has been seen. This is an important factor as elephants that feel intimidated or threatened are more likely to attack. The work is the culmination of previous research which showed elephants are naturally scared of African honey bees. But they can and do sting elephants around the eyes and inside the trunk. Bee  Fences keep Elephants from the Crops and Villages and reduce the conflict of humans living close to Wildlife Parks with Elephants. 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"We have built 1,700 metres of beehive fences which we are monitoring for hive occupations and elephant movements," says King. I erected 20 honey bee boxes around my plantation in October 2019 and since then even if the elephants wandered nearby, they never breached the fence… In the Ex-Erok community in the southern region of Laikipia, Kenya, the team recruited farmers whose crops were regularly raided by elephants. Langstroth beehive fence line in Tsavo The beehive fence protected farms in Sagalla have an average of 80% success rate against crop-raiding elephants. The success of Save The Elephant’s Elephants and Bees project is being felt far beyond Africa’s shores. Our award-winning project explores the use of Beehive Fences as a natural elephant deterrent, helping protect farmers and farmland. "Even with empty hives, the beehive fence is a swinging, moving complex shape which provides a visual barrier to approaching elephants. Not only protecting crops from the clutches of elephants with bees but also earning income with both hands. When – Where do I get my Uganda Tourist Visa? TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript: Imagine waking in the middle of the night to an elephant ripping the roof from your house in search of food. Many Things have been tried from shooting guns into the air to scare them off to digging trenches that at the end of the day are filled by the elephants. A beehive fence in action – an occupied hive deters this elephant from moving past the fence. The human – wildlife conflict in communities near wildlife parks and reserve is an ever-present reality in the case of Elephants – both Savannah and Forest species can do a lot of damage  to nearby fields filled with crops and to the gardens of those living near the parks. Method. In all, elephants raided the protected farm on seven occasions, compared to 13 raids on the unfenced farm. In Kenya, elephants are not confined to national parks or reserves. This conflict of wildlife and people can turn to anger in the local communities and lead to poaching in order to recover their losses and the losses are  not small. Occupied hives will have even more success in deterring elephants and also provide honey for the villagers.". Elephants’ famous long-term memory also helps make the fences effective. The farmers than recorded how many elephants raided their crops and how often. Keeping Elephants from trampling the fields of villagers is a problems in Africa and in Uganda. 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Bees have the potential to deter elephants as well as provide additional income to farmers from honey. A beehive fence is a fence which is built to deter elephants based on their natural fear of bees. The first camera trap video we captured showed a small herd of elephants breaking through the newly installed fence. The bee fences boost crop pollination and honey production—as well as allow rural farmers and wild elephants to coexist. Many Things have been  tried  from shooting guns into the air to scare them off to digging trenches that at the end of the day are filled by the elephants. In all, the fence continued for 90m with each hive 10m apart. Beehive fences—surrounding crops fields with beehives attached to fence posts and strung together with wires—may serve as a humane and eco-friendly way to protect crops from elephants. In 2002, University of Oxford zoologist Fritz Vollrath discovered that elephants avoided trees with beehives in. A fence of beehives is built around a farm. Elephants are afraid of bees. Despite their thick hides, adult elephants can be stung around their eyes or up their trunks, while calves who have not developed this thick skin could potentially be killed by a swarm of stinging bees. No longer sleepless nights beating oil drums to drive the roaming elephants away, no longer night fires or firing weapons into the air – the Bee Security Force – the Bee Askaris are doing their work . When an elephant crosses a trip wire, a slim line gets pulled and the hives are disturbed, resulting in an angry fleet of flying bee attackers. Let that sink in for a second. Is it SAFE to visit Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. A taste of honey: how bees mend fences between farmers and elephants Elephants cross a tea garden to enter a paddy field in Assam, India. Bee Fences have proved to be an effective method for protecting crops from elephant raids on them and their crops and at the same time providing ongoing income from the sale of honey. Now, to tourists and conservationists, elephants are a sight to behold, but to a farmer staying awake the whole night protecting his/her farm, week in week out, the elephant often comes off as a pest. As they roam, they often come across increasing numbers of farms created by pastoralists who are being encouraged to settle down and grow crops. The probability that one or more farms experienced crop loss from elephants on a given day was reduced in the presence of the fence and was reduced further as the fence was extended. In the beehive fences, hives are hung every 10 met res in a specific formation so that should an elephant touch one of the hives, or interconnecting wire, the beehives all along the fence line will swing and release the bees. Elephants also exhibited interruption of other behaviors (freezing), spreading of ears, ear flapping, tail in the air, and other behaviors in response to the beehive fence. 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