Farmer uses bees to keep elephants at bay (Coimbatore, India)

Author(s)

Times of India

Date Published

When an elephant knocked down the compound wall of his house at Onampalayam near Thondamuthur, George Thomas, a farmer and a retired engineer, decided to find a permanent solution to the problem. That was not the first time that he had spotted an elephant around his farm land after he started living there five years ago.

Based on research and expert opinion, he set up beehives around the compound wall of his farm land. Since then, he has not seen any elephant intrusion.

Ever since George moved moved with his family to Thondamuthur, they started spotting elephants around the farm land.

“As time passed, I got used to them passing the land but when one elephant knocked down the compound wall of my residence, I decided it was time to do something. Recollecting my childhood memories, I knew that elephants were afraid of bees. I did some research and realized that in countries like Africa bees were used successfully to keep elephants at bay,” he said.

He set up beehives around his home. Since then, 18 months have passed and they have not seen any elephant intrusion.

“They pass by the farmland but are always at a distance of 100m from my land,” said George Thomas.

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Farmer-uses-bees-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/articleshow/52318106.cms