“We really hated elephants,” said Kenyan farmer Charity Mwangome, pausing in her work under the shade of a baobab tree.
The bees buzzing in the background are part of the reason why his hatred has faded.
The 58-year-old man said that marauding elephants often destroy months of work in his village between two parts of the world-famous Tsavo National Park in Kenya.
Loved by tourists — who contribute about 10 percent of Kenya’s GDP — the animals are hated by many local farmers, who are the backbone of the country’s economy.
Elephant conservation has been a huge success: numbers in Tsavo have increased from about 6,000 in the mid-1990s to about 15,000 elephants by 2021, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
But the people increased again, they entered the pastures and the migration routes of the herds.
The resulting conflict is the number one cause of death for elephants, says KWS.
Refusing compensation when he lost his plants, Mwangome admits he was angry with conservationists.
But a long-term project by the conservation organization Save the Elephants gave him an unexpected solution — to prevent nature’s biggest animals with one of their smallest: African bees.
A yellow beehive fence now protects several areas in the area, including Mwangome’s.
A nine-year study published last month found that elephants avoided farms with predatory bees by 86 percent during the peak harvest season.
“The beehives helped us,” said Mwangome.
– Nature hacking –
The deep buzzing of 70,000 bees is enough to make many run away, including a six-tonne elephant, but Loise Kawira calmly removes a tray from her beehive to display the intricate combs of wax and honey.
Kawira, who joined Save the Elephants in 2021 as their bee consultant, trains and supervises beekeepers in the delicate art.
The project supports 49 farmers, whose plots are surrounded by 15 connected hives.
Each is tied to a greased wire a few meters from the ground, which protects them from badgers and insects, but also means they move when disturbed by a hungry elephant.
“When the elephants hear the sound of bees and the smell, they run away,” Kawira told AFP.
“It disrupts the communication between the elephants and the bees,” added Ewan Brennan, the area’s coordinator.
It has been successful, but the recent drought, exacerbated by climate change, has created challenges.
“(E) complete heat, drought, the bees fled,” said Kawira.
It’s also expensive — about 150,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,100) to install the nests — more than subsistence farmers can afford, although project planners say it’s still cheaper than an electric wireline.
– ‘I’m going to die’ –
A few seconds after AFP arrived at Mwanajuma Kibula’s farm, which is close to one of Tsavo’s nature reserves, his beehive fence has spotted an elephant.
The five-ton animal, its skin covered in red mud, burst into the area and made an unexpected face.
“I know my plants are protected,” said Kibula with relief.
Kibula, 48, also harvests honey twice a year from his hives, making 450 shillings per jar — enough to pay his children’s school fees.
You are lucky to have protection from the largest mammals on Earth.
“An elephant broke through my roof, I had to hide under the bed because I knew I was going to die,” said an unlucky neighbor, Hendrita Mwalada, 67.
For those who can’t afford bees, Save the Elephants offers other solutions, such as metal fences that vibrate when elephants approach, and rags impregnated with diesel or pepper to deter them.
It’s not always enough.
“I tried to plant but every time the plants are ready, the elephants come and destroy the plants,” Mwalada told AFP.
“That has been the story of my life, a life full of great difficulties.”
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