Elephants and Bees is an organization that uses African bees to reduce the problem of

elephants Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...

destroying crops on

small farm Small means of insignificant size. Small may also refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text Arts and ...

s in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Method

A fence of beehives is built around a farm. The beehives are connected to each other with strong wires. If an elephant approaches the fence and bumps the wire, the bee hives are shaken, and the bees swarm to attack the threat. Although the elephant hide is very thick, bees can deliver significant pain by attacking vulnerable areas such as ears, eyes, and trunks. Furthermore, when an African bee stings an elephant, it might release a

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

that encourages additional bees to focus on that victim. Once elephants have been attacked by bees, they remember the experience, and pass that information to other members of the herd, and so when they approach the farm, the noise from the beehives can be sufficient to cause the elephants to retreat. In addition to keeping elephants from destroying the crops, the beehives provide pollination for the crops, as well as a source of honey, which the farmers can eat or sell.

History

The organization was started by

Iain Douglas-Hamilton Iain Douglas-Hamilton (born 16 August 1942) is a Scottish zoologist from Oxford University and one of the world's foremost authorities on the African elephant. In 1993, he founded Save the Elephants, which is dedicated to securing a future fo ...

in 2006 by

Save the Elephants Save the Elephants (STE) was founded in 1993 by Iain Douglas-Hamilton Iain Douglas-Hamilton (born 16 August 1942) is a Scottish zoologist from Oxford University and one of the world's foremost authorities on the African elephant. In 1993 ...

to test methods to reduce elephant-human conflicts. Additional funding was provided by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Conservation Fund. In 2013, the project won the $100,000

St Andrews Prize for the Environment The St Andrews Prize for the Environment is a prestigious international environmental award funded and administered by the University of St Andrews in Scotland, United Kingdom. Prior to 2020, the American exploration and production company ConocoP ...

References

External links

Official SiteSave the Elephant, the parent organization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elephants and Bees Wildlife conservation in Kenya Nature conservation organisations based in the United Kingdom Animal charities based in the United Kingdom Elephant conservation organizations Organizations established in 2006 Animal welfare organisations based in Kenya 2006 establishments in the United Kingdom