How bees might be a sweet solution to human-elephant conflicts

In the worsening conflict between humans and elephants, researchers have discovered an unlikely peacekeeper: bees.

A nine-year study found that elephants in Kenya will avoid beehive fences – a simple structure where live beehives are strung together between posts – as much as 86 per cent of the time.

That includes peak crop season, when they often raid small farms to feast on fresh produce and encounter unsuspecting – and sometimes hostile – human counterparts.

In societies where populations continue to grow, these findings could offer a powerful nature-based solution to safeguard livelihoods and wildlife habitats alike.

Habitat loss and human encroachment represent growing dangers

Led by experts from Save the Elephants, the Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Kenya Wildlife Service and the University of Oxford, the study addresses a vexing problem for many nations around the world where the so-called gentle giants roam.

From Africa to India and Southeast Asia, sharp population rises have shrunk elephant habitats and brought them into close contact with people.

Since 2020, Kenya’s population has more than doubled. By 2050, it is expected to expand another 51 per cent, from 55.3 million today to more than 83.5 million, according to the World Health Organization.

All the while, elephant-related incidents have become more frequent, creating a persistent conflict where both sides lose. Farmers risk their crops and safety, while elephants face injury or death.

About 200 people died in human-elephant conflicts between 2010 and 2017, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and currently Kenyan wildlife authorities kill between 50 and 120 elephants each year because of attacks on humans.

Why do bees scare off elephants?

In 2002, Save the Elephants founding members Iain Douglas-Hamilton and Fritz Vollrath published their first research paper on bee noise as an elephant deterrent.

They discovered that elephants run away from bee sounds. Many also shake their heads, kick up dust and rumble to warn others.

According to Lucy King, head of the human-elephant co-existence program with Save the Elephants and leader of its Elephants and Bees project, that’s because of their unseen soft spots. 

Elephants may have thick skin, but agitated bees can target the eyes, mouth and trunk. Over millennia, they developed an innate fear of the tiny creatures.  

Ever since, Save the Elephants has used the humble honey bee to tap into this evolutionary fear and discourage them from raiding farms – something that typically occurs at night and catches communities by surprise.

Currently, the group has 14,000 beehives hanging in 97 sites across Africa and Asia. 

For this study, they monitored 26 farms in two villages near Kenya’s Tsavo East National Park, where the animals freely roam, and analysed nearly 4,000 elephant approaches between 2014 and 2020, including during six peak crop-growing seasons. 

In 86 per cent of cases during the peak seasons, the persistent buzz of the beehive fences dissuaded elephants from going further.

Climate change could threaten nature-based solutions like beehive fences

With their low costs and easy maintenance, beehive fences could be a scalable solution that farmers can manage without outside assistance.

“We have to find socially appropriate farmer-managed solutions for the scale of the human-wildlife coexistence issues that are increasing across Africa,” says King. 

“The more we empower farmers with the right tools that they can manage and maintain themselves, the more the responsibility for looking after our planet’s wild animals becomes all of our responsibility, and not just wildlife officials.”

To encourage widespread adoption of beehive fences, Save the Elephants has made all its construction manuals and films freely available and open-source. 

“As a consequence we know of beehive fences being trialled in 23 elephant range state countries now at over 100 sites,” King adds. 

These projects also promise an additional revenue stream, plus a perk for the environment.

King says that using wild African honey bees has created “vital pollination services which have far-reaching impact well beyond the need to deter elephants.” 

“Honey bees are under such threat these days from pesticides, pollution, habitat destruction and erratic weather that we may not realise the impact on our food production until it’s too late,” she explains. The hives used in the study also yielded one tonne of honey, which sold for $2,250 (€2,140). 

It could have been more had it not been for a 2017 drought that reduced hive populations by 75 per cent. With less buzz, elephants also became more brazen, according to the researchers.

With climate change disrupting weather patterns worldwide, it’s possible this ground-breaking project could lose some of its sting.

“Beehive fences are very effective at reducing […] elephant raids when the crops are at their most attractive,” King said in a press release accompanying the study’s release.

“But our results also warn that increased habitat disturbance or more frequent droughts could reduce the effectiveness of this nature-based coexistence method.”