Beehive Fences: They work in Africa, but do they work in Asia?
Beehive Fences: They work in Africa, but do they work in Asia?
A three year study was recently completed in Sri Lanka. The attached report documents the great effort made by Kylie Michelle Butler to prove the efficacy of bee hives as a deterrent to elephants' crop raiding.
Zoologist Lucy King proved that beehive fences are very effective in Africa. Our own preliminary thoughts were that the Asian bee species are not nearly as aggressive as those found in Africa. Thus, the elephants are not so inclined to be frightened. However, unmanned drones used for research and filmmaking, which make a sound similar to bees, has been found to scatter, or frighten elephants. So, what is the conclusion? We wanted to know.
Three years later, the prognosis is not so good. While bee hives that are well maintained around household gardens appeared effective in reducing elephant incursions, community-wide bee hives were not effective. The author states that the initial cost of hives, diligence in upkeep and the maintenance of adequate colonies of bees was problematic. Thus, the study indicates that additional research would be helpful, and perhaps financial subsidy of community hives.
Our opinion is that, at least in Sri Lanka, the reality of installing and maintaining a sufficient number of bee hive fences to be of a community wide benefit, is not feasible.
Our appreciation is extended to Kylie Michelle Butler for undertaking this important work. Adapting elephant deterrence methods that are working, whether in Africa or neighboring Asian countries, is a most worthwhile enterprise. Kudos to Kylie.
Here's the report's conclusion:
"Despite promising signs of being a relatively effective deterrent with a > 50% success rate at keeping
elephants from entering home gardens, it is unlikely that beehive fences could contribute meaningfully to mitigating HEC at a community level in Dewagiriya Village. The difficulties in attracting natural colonies, poor honey production and apparent lack of food resources for bees were consistent over the study period, suggesting the saturation rate for supporting viable colonies in Dewagiriya Village is low. Economically, farmers were unable to meet even small expenses such as replacing damaged posts or hives, and financial support would be required for both initial set-up and ongoing maintenance. Finally, although farmers seemed to enjoy participating in the project, motivation or
capacity to independently look after their fences was low, and it is unlikely that most of the existing fences will continue to be used following this trial. Given the promising signs of deterrent success, it would be worth exploring the potential of beehive fencing as an Asian elephant deterrent tool further. However, future trials would benefit from careful selection of HEC location more amenable to
beekeeping."
The complete report can be found here:
