A beehive fence is a fence which is built to deter

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

based on their natural fear of

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

. The fence is set up off the ground at chest height and contains hives spaced every 10 metres. If an elephant disturbs the fence, then the hives shake and the bees become agitated, and the elephants are deterred. Elephants communicate the presence of bees to other elephants and thus they tend to avoid the area. The approach has been largely successful, reducing conflict between humans and elephants by up to 85%. Beehive fences were invented by Lucy King a worker at Save the Elephants, who noticed that elephants avoided acacia trees that had bee colonies. The inventor received the 2013 St. Andrews Prize for the Environment.

References

{{reflist Mammal pest control Elephants Beekeeping Fences