ELEPHANTS & THE BEES

The Elephants and Bees Project is an innovative study using an in-depth understanding of elephant behaviour to reduce damage
from crop-raiding elephants using their instinctive avoidance of African honey bees. The project explores the use of novel
Beehive Fences as a natural elephant deterrent creating a social and economic boost to poverty-stricken rural communities
through pollination services and the sustainable harvesting of “Elephant-Friendly Honey".

The Elephants and Bees Project is an award winning innovative study offering a real solution to the human elephant conflict problem.
In addition to Kenya, more partners are now using beehive fences in various parts of the world and to-date Dr. King has visited and helped set up hives in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Sri Lanka, and has resulted in several scientific publications.
So far the project has been awarded The Future for Nature Award (2013), The St Andrews Prize for the Environment (2013), and The UNEP/CMS
Thesis Award (2011).

GEO FENCING

Having found that elephants run from the sound of bees, in 2007, we set up a unique beehive fence line in the area
to see if they would deter elephants from raiding crops. To test our hypotheses, we geo-fenced several known
crop-raiding elephants to see if their behaviour changed once confronted with large concentration of bees. Thanks
to the geo-fencing technology, we were able to witness and confirm that bees did in fact deter elephants from crop raiding.