How bees deter elephants: beehive trials with forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) in Gabon

In Gabon, like elsewhere in Africa, crops are often sources of conflict between humans and wildlife. Wildlife damage to crops can drastically reduce income, amplifying poverty and creating a negative perception of wild animal conservation among rural people. In this context, crop-raiding animals like elephants quickly become “problem animals”. To deter elephants from raiding crops beehives have been successfully employed in East Africa; however, this method has not yet been tested in Central Africa. We experimentally examined whether the presence of Apis mellifera adansonii, the African honey bee species present in Central Africa, deters forest elephants (Loxodonta Africana cyclotis) from feeding on fruit trees. We show for the first time that the effectiveness of beehives as deterrents of elephants is related to bee activity. Empty hives and those housing colonies of low bee activity do not deter elephants all the time; but beehives with high bee activity do. Although elephant disturba...在加蓬（Gabon）与非洲其他地区一样，农作物常成为人类与野生动物冲突的诱因。野生动物损毁农作物会大幅降低农户收入，加剧贫困，并使农村民众对野生动物保护产生负面认知。在此背景下，大象等啃食农作物的动物很快会被归类为“问题动物”。此前东非地区已成功利用蜂箱（beehives）驱离大象，但该方法尚未在中非地区开展测试。本研究通过实验探究了分布于中非的非洲蜜蜂物种阿当松蜜蜂（Apis mellifera adansonii）是否能够驱离森林象（Loxodonta Africana cyclotis）取食果树。本研究首次证实，蜂箱作为大象驱离手段的有效性与蜜蜂活动度密切相关：空置蜂箱以及蜜蜂活动度较低的蜂群蜂巢无法始终驱离大象，而蜜蜂活动度较高的蜂箱则可有效驱离大象。尽管大象干扰……