Use bees to chase elephants

When studying African elephants, zoologists have found a way to prevent these giant animals from attacking forested villages and destroying crops. It is the honeycomb fence, the elephant insect is very afraid.

People think of bee keeping only to get honey, but it is difficult to record the benefits of this insect. If you add more people often just give bees to wax, give royal jelly, give pollen, give venom, pollinate plants . However, recently people discovered this small animal has protected in a way effective farms from the attack and destruction of forest elephants.

According to Russian newspaper Pravda , farm owners in Africa agreed that hungry elephants were a disaster like a disaster like a thunderstorm or grasshopper on crops. African elephants (Loxodonta africana), much bigger than Asian elephants, they also eat more. Therefore, in Africa, in national parks, which preserve the largest animals on the continent, 'war' occurs frequently between elephants and local farmers.

The cause of 'war' is understandable. The thing is, because recently the prevention of poaching is very effective (national park guards can shoot poachers on the spot) and are facilitated, so the number of animals This giant herbivore rises rapidly. The black continent does not have carnivorous beasts, often regarded as the agent of the number of elephants (lions and leopards only dare to attack baby elephants, but it is also rare). As a result, the number of elephants becomes too crowded, adversely affecting the condition of the gardens themselves.

Honey bees are a formidable opponent of ferocious African elephants.

Those elephants quickly consumed all the food. In hot days, crowds of elephants are crowded in pools of water, rivers and mud. In the forest, the source of food decreases and the water resource runs out. Elephants pulled together to the coastal areas, farms, and fields to earn a living, causing great damage to agriculture. Local people were angry, started shooting elephants but they were arrested, imprisoned because they were only allowed to shoot when they attacked directly. Elephants become great painters.

Many measures have been taken, including costly measures such as building concrete walls or steel wire fences (sometimes with electricity transmission) but elephants are too strong, their skin is too thick to be electrocuted, so the The measure does not work.

But recently, people have come up with a way to prevent elephants from wandering through farms and fields. Four years ago, the team led by Lucy King, Oxford University, found that African elephants were very afraid of honey bees (Apis millifera), so the idea of ​​using this tiny insect to counteract but the big, strong animal is hungry.

Why are elephants afraid of bees? Because colonies of thousands of wise birds attack elephants in the least protected places like eyes, mucus in the mouth, taps and ears. Elephants cannot counterattack because the 'enemy' is too crowded, because of the difference in size and flexible movement. So, seeing the bees, the elephant immediately turned and fled.

Dr. King's group tested the type of fence they designed, and a beehive was arranged every 10 meters. They tested 1700 meters of fence, placed at 17 farms in Northern Kenya, where elephants often came and devastated the most. To testify, the authors also made fences to protect them with thorny branches and hung alarm bells to drive away elephants.

Test results for 2 years show that the "bee fence" was attacked by elephants 14 times (all the elephants were small, went alone), but they ran when they met bees, 39 times the flock of elephants came, looking Seeing the bees fly out, immediately run away. The 'wooden fence with hanging bell' was devastated by elephants 31 times, and they only retreated to the forest when they were full.

Thus, bee fences are much more effective. Test results are published in the Journal of African Journal of Ecology. Scientists think this is a good method, ending the 'war' with elephants. They also added that during the trial the farmers harvested 106kg of honey.

In the end, the owners were still comfortable and the elephants were still intact. The remaining problem now is to resolve African elephant status too much, to adjust the quantity. In the immediate future, you can transfer to the zoo or sell it to the circus.