“We used to really hate elephants,” admits Kenyan farmer Charity Mwangome, taking a break in the shade of a baobab tree. And yet: the bees, buzzing behind, helped soften her animosity.
Elephants have often wiped out months of work on his farmland, located between two parts of Tsavo National Park. Adored by tourists – who contribute around 10% of Kenya’s GDP – they are hated by most farmers, who represent a key sector of the economy.
In Kenya, the protection of pachyderms has been a resounding success: in Tsavo, the number of elephants has increased from around 6,000 in the mid-1990s to almost 15,000 in 2021, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
But the human population has also grown, encroaching on pastures and migration routes for herds.
And clashes resulting from these developments are becoming the leading cause of mammal mortality, according to KWS.
Ms Mwangome, who was denied compensation for the loss of her crops, admits to having been angry with environmentalists.
Until the charity Save the Elephants offered him an unexpected solution: keep these most imposing animals away thanks to tiny beasts: African bees.
Fences made of beehives now protect several local plots, including Ms. Mwangome’s.
In 86% of cases, elephants avoid farms where these bees live, according to a study published last month.
“The beehive fences came to our rescue,” summarizes the farmer.
– “They are running away” –
The dull rumble of 70,000 bees scares away a six-ton elephant, but Loise Kawira calmly removes a tray from a hive to show the complex combs formed by wax and honey.
Ms. Kawira, who joined Save the Elephants in 2021 as a beekeeping consultant, trains and supervises farmers in this delicate handling.
The plots of the 49 farmers supported by the project are surrounded by 15 connected hives.
Each is suspended from a greased wire a few meters from the ground, protecting them from badgers and insects. Which also means they tremble when disturbed by a hungry elephant.
“Once the elephants hear the sound of the bees and the smell, they run away,” explains Loise Kawira to AFP.
This method has proven effective, but recent droughts, worsened by climate change, are a challenge.
“Because of the total heat, the drought, the bees fled,” says Ms. Kawira.
Installing beehives is also expensive (around 150,000 Kenyan shillings, or 1,090 euros), well beyond the means of farmers, even if their promoters assure that the method remains cheaper than electric fences.
Moments after AFP arrived at Mwanajuma Kibula Farm, which adjoins one of Tsavo’s parks, its beehive fence repelled an elephant.
The five-ton pachyderm, whose skin was covered in red mud, rushed into the area before abruptly turning around.
“I know that my crops are protected,” she emphasizes with perceptible relief.
Ms Kibula, 48, also harvests honey twice a year from her hives, earning her 450 shillings per pot, (about three euros), enough to pay her children’s school fees.
Others are less fortunate in the face of pachyderm attacks.
“An elephant tore my roof off, I had to hide under the bed,” said Hendrita Mwalada, a 67-year-old neighbor, saying she thought she was going to die.
For those who can’t afford to have bees, Save the Elephants offers other solutions, like tin fences that slam when shaken by approaching elephants, or rags soaked in diesel or chili pepper.
It’s not always enough.
“I tried to plant, but every time the crops are ready, the elephants come and destroy the crops,” laments Ms. Mwalada. “It’s the story of my life, a life filled with too many difficulties.”
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