Data from: 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 disturbance of hives does not impede honey production, there is a tradeoff between deterrence and the quantity of honey produced. To best achieve the dual goals of deterring elephants and producing honey colonies must maintain an optimum activity level of 40 to 60 bee movements per minute. Thus, beehives colonized by Apis mellifera adansonii bees can be effective elephant deterrents, but people must actively manage hives to maintain bee colonies at the optimum activity level.与非洲其他地区无异，加蓬地区的农作物时常成为人类与野生动物冲突的导火索。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，诸如大象这类啃食农作物的动物很快便会被贴上‘问题动物’的标签。为驱离大象啃食农作物，蜂箱方案已在东非地区成功应用，但该方法尚未在中非地区开展相关测试。本研究通过实验验证了中非本土的西方蜜蜂安达松亚种（Apis mellifera adansonii）是否能够驱离非洲森林象（Loxodonta Africana cyclotis）取食果树。本研究首次证实，蜂箱作为大象驱离工具的有效性与蜂群活动强度直接相关。空置蜂箱以及蜂群活动强度较低的蜂箱无法始终有效驱离大象，而蜂群活动强度较高的蜂箱则可达成驱离效果。尽管大象对蜂箱的侵扰不会阻碍蜂蜜生产，但在驱离大象与提升蜂蜜产量之间存在权衡取舍。若要同时实现驱离大象与获取蜂蜜的双重目标，蜂群需维持在每分钟40至60次蜜蜂活动的最优水平。由此可见，由西方蜜蜂安达松亚种（Apis mellifera adansonii）筑巢的蜂箱可作为高效的大象驱离工具，但需通过主动管理蜂箱，使蜂群维持在最优活动水平。