ELEPHANTS & BEES
Beehive fences can provide both a natural deterrent to crop-raiding elephants and a sustainable income for local farmers
We teamed up with Save the Elephant's Elephants and Bees project to conduct a pilot study, constructing beehive fences at local farms in the Wasgamuwa area. Elephants have been shown to be scared away by the presence and sound of bees. The Elephants and Bees project harnesses this natural aversion, transforming it into a solution to human-elephant conflict.
Our pilot study is the first time in Sri Lanka this natural solution to human-elephant conflict has been trialled on Asian elephants. We look forward to sharing the results to help mitigate human-elephant conflict across Sri Lanka.
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Buzz Off! Using Bees to Deter Crop-Raiding Elephants
In states across Africa, the Elephants and Bees team, a project of Save the Elephants, has been installing beehive fences to deter crop-raiding elephants and reduce human-elephant conflict. The project has been hugely successful, not only in deterring elephants, but also in providing local farmers with a supplementary income, selling honey harvested from the beehives.
The project combines wildlife protection with sustainable development, and is aligned with our values, complementing our own Project Orange Elephant and Saving Elephants by Helping People projects. Consequently, it was only natural to collaborate with the Elephants and Bees project to begin a three-year pilot study in the Wasgamuwa area. The study included the construction of beehive fences in local farms, as well as research projects to gather data on crop-raiding incidents and ongoing monitoring of human-elephant conflict in the area.
The Society is still monitoring and evaluating the project to see how effective it is in deterring elephants and providing farmers with a supplementary income.
