Bees Not Poison

Severe weather, drought and pests can mean the difference between a bumper crop and a lean harvest for a farmer. In Kenya, farmers also face a much bigger threat. Herds of elephants, sometimes ten-deep, are known to break through wire fences and forage on young crops.

Rifles and poisons are commonly used to fight back, but a team from Oxford University is giving farmers a new option designed to save elephants’ lives. It turns out that when bee hives are attached to fencing, hungry elephants are scared away. Buzzing from angry bees and the threat of stings reduced elephant raids by 86%. Recordings of buzzing sounds without actual bees also seem to do the trick.

Oxford University: Beehive fence deters elephant raiders

TreeHugger: Beehive Fences Help African Elephants and Farmers Not Hate Each Other

(Photo by Tie Guy II via Flickr/Creative Commons)