Bee the Change, Ruam Thai, Thailand
The “Bee the Change” initiative is being implemented in the village of Ruam Thai, Thailand. The project uses beehive fences—featuring native Asian bee species—and a synthetic bee alarm pheromone blend to peacefully deter elephants from entering agricultural lands.
This project is a collaborative effort between Bring The Elephant Home (BTEH), the Ruam Thai Beekeeping Group, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and KMUTT Bee Park. Local farmers and community members are directly involved in both the implementation and ongoing monitoring. Over the course of one year, participating farmers receive support including bees, hives, fencing materials, technical assistance, and a micro-livelihood insurance scheme.
We aim to demonstrate that Asian elephants are deterred by native Asian bee species, and that bee alarm pheromones can be an effective deterrent during periods when bee populations are low. Ultimately, our goal is to reduce human-elephant conflict in the project areas through the effective deployment of beehive fences.
After the initial year, farmers will have developed sufficient beekeeping skills and their colonies are expected to be healthy enough for them to continue independently.
BTEH will continue to invest in workshops and training sessions to strengthen the beekeeping group, enhance social cohesion, build resilience, and foster the development of new skills.
Self-sufficiency is further promoted through additional income and risk diversification via honey production and sales.
In 2020, we conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of beehive fences using alternative bee species as a sustainable local solution for mitigating human-elephant conflict in Thailand. The results of this pilot study showed that the beehive fences deterred 88.4% of individual elephants and 64.3% of elephant groups. These findings, published in Conservation Science & Practice, serve as a foundation for our current expectations and highlight the potential of beehive fences as a nature-based solution for reducing human-elephant conflict.
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