Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants
Previous work has shown that African elephants Loxodonta africana will avoid African honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata. Here we present results from a pilot study conducted to evaluate the concept of using beehives to mitigate elephant crop depredation. In Laikipia, Kenya, we deployed a 90-m fence...
| Asıl Yazarlar: | , , , |
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| Materyal Türü: | Journal article |
| Dil: | English |
| Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: |
Wiley
2009
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| Konular: |
| _version_ | 1826308665930416128 |
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| author | King, L Lawrence, A Douglas-Hamilton, I Vollrath, F |
| author_facet | King, L Lawrence, A Douglas-Hamilton, I Vollrath, F |
| author_sort | King, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Previous work has shown that African elephants Loxodonta africana will avoid African honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata. Here we present results from a pilot study conducted to evaluate the concept of using beehives to mitigate elephant crop depredation. In Laikipia, Kenya, we deployed a 90-m fence-line of nine inter-connected hives, all empty, on two exposed sides of a square two-acre farm that was experiencing high levels of elephant crop depredation. Compared with a nearby control farm of similar status and size, our experimental farm experienced fewer raids and consequently had higher productivity. Socioeconomic indicators suggest that not only was the concept of a beehive fence popular and desired by the community but also that it can pay for its construction costs through the sale of honey and bee products. We are calling for experiments testing this concept of a ‘guardian beehive-fence’ to be conducted rigorously and scientifically in as wide a range of agricultural settings as possible to evaluate jointly its effectiveness and efficiency. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:22:44Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:570b1095-2d19-40a8-8f58-d5df0757f33a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:22:44Z |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:570b1095-2d19-40a8-8f58-d5df0757f33a2022-10-25T08:09:43ZBeehive fence deters crop-raiding elephantsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:570b1095-2d19-40a8-8f58-d5df0757f33aZoological sciencesEnvironmentEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetWiley2009King, LLawrence, ADouglas-Hamilton, IVollrath, FPrevious work has shown that African elephants Loxodonta africana will avoid African honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata. Here we present results from a pilot study conducted to evaluate the concept of using beehives to mitigate elephant crop depredation. In Laikipia, Kenya, we deployed a 90-m fence-line of nine inter-connected hives, all empty, on two exposed sides of a square two-acre farm that was experiencing high levels of elephant crop depredation. Compared with a nearby control farm of similar status and size, our experimental farm experienced fewer raids and consequently had higher productivity. Socioeconomic indicators suggest that not only was the concept of a beehive fence popular and desired by the community but also that it can pay for its construction costs through the sale of honey and bee products. We are calling for experiments testing this concept of a ‘guardian beehive-fence’ to be conducted rigorously and scientifically in as wide a range of agricultural settings as possible to evaluate jointly its effectiveness and efficiency. |
| spellingShingle | Zoological sciences Environment King, L Lawrence, A Douglas-Hamilton, I Vollrath, F Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants |
| title | Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants |
| title_full | Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants |
| title_fullStr | Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants |
| title_short | Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants |
| title_sort | beehive fence deters crop raiding elephants |
| topic | Zoological sciences Environment |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kingl beehivefencedeterscropraidingelephants AT lawrencea beehivefencedeterscropraidingelephants AT douglashamiltoni beehivefencedeterscropraidingelephants AT vollrathf beehivefencedeterscropraidingelephants |