hymenopus coronata

Conrad Bérubé
island crop management
email: uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca

Bee info

worker bee

Copyright © 2007 Conrad Bérubé, site design, concept and scripting. All rights reserved worldwide.

 
 
Happy two-thousand twelephant

bees for babar®

Peacekeeping through beekeeping: reducing wildlife
conflicts and increasing incomes with guardian hives.

BfB provides rotary credit to villagers to install hives around subsistence farms near the Mole wildlife reserve in Ghana. When elephants attempt to raid crops they will upset trip-wired hives. The bees will drive off the elephants– preserving both the crops and the elephants (who might otherwise be poached by enraged farmers).

 

Bees for Babar Valentine's Eve Ghana/Africa Night

click here for information about the Bees for Babar Dec 3, 2010 Year End Ghana/Africa Night Camosun College

Bees for Babar Valentine's Eve Ghana/Africa Night
click here for information about the Bees for Babar 2010 Valentine's Eve Ghana/Africa Night
bees for babar logo
click here for an article, "Bees for Babar: Peacekeeping through Beekeeping" American Bee Journal September 2009, on the project
click here for a pamphlet about the project
 
In 2003, while working as a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer, with communities in the Damango District of Ghana, Conrad Bérubé and his Ghanaian counterpart, Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, from Opportunitites Industrialization Centres (OIC) International's Tamale office, took the opportunity to visit the wildlife reserve of Mole National Park (who have since become one of our partners). While there we discussed with park personnel the possibility of using bee hives as a means of excluding elephants from crop areas. When animals such as elephants or other large herbivores disturb them, the fierce African strains of bees defend themselves by stinging the sensitive ears, eyes and trunks of the animals-- who learn quickly to avoid the cultivated plots so protected. This can serve as both a novel means of reducing conflicts between agriculture and wildlife at park boundaries and to provide the benefits of small-scale beekeeping: supplementation of farmers' incomes through increased productivity derived from the bees' pollination services and the sale of honey and wax. After several years of promoting beekeeping for its own merits we decided to explore the idea of combining conservation with beekeeping so in August of 2007 we formed the "bees for babar society".

Farms in close proximity to wildlife reserves can suffer from crop-raiding by elephants and other animals (left) which can induce poaching incidents (right).

In studies conducted in Ghana there was almost a 50% probability that if one's farm is raided by elephants, about half of the crop would be destroyed. Such fields can be protected by surrounding them with "living barbed wire fences". Kenya Top Bar Hives (KTBH's) can be placed around crops and connected with ropes. The ropes will be hung from pegs in such a way that elephants entering a field will push against the ropes and, with their forward progress will overturn the hives. The disturbed bees will drive the elephants away and the elephants will learn to avoid areas containing hives-- even those that are empty.

Note that the ropes are wired together so that an elephant entering on either side of a post will upset the hives on both sides of a fence post. Rope rather than wire is preferable for the purpose of connecting the hives because the ropes can be impregnated with chilli pepper oil which will contribute to the repellency to wildlife touching or chewing on it.

Villagers of Mognori have been chosen as the first clients with whom to implement the "bees for babar" (BfB) project.

At left: Elephants can damage shea trees , used for the edible fruit and oil it produces, and other crops that villagers depend upon for sustenance and income.

At right: Mohammed Ali Ibrahim poses in Mole Park with a pachyderm backdrop.

 

In June of 2008 carpenters in the town of Tamale begin to cut wood to begin construction on KTBH's that will be loaned at cost to Mognori villagers on a rotating credit system.

August 20, 2008: Village leaders pitch in to unload wood delivered in preparation for training folks there to build hives. This approach stretches funds and fosters capacity building in the client community to make the project more sustainable.

Our gratitude goes out to one of our partners OIC Tamale for assisting in the delivery. Combining visits to Mognori with some OIC errands not only allowed Ali to get wood for hives out to Mognori in the OIC pickup truck but also helped to reduce green house gas emmissions-- every little bit helps ;-)

Check out Mognori at Google Earth at 9.291180°, -1.776150°

By mid-September 2008, with the assistance of OIC Tamale, BfB Ghana director Mohammed Ali Ibrahim had trained Mognori villagers to construct KTBH's in preparation for the upcoming swarm season.
The villagers put up one third of the value of the lumber and receive the remainder of the lumber on credit from a rotary credit micro-financing venture. When they repay the loan following the sale of honey and beeswax harvested from the hives the money will go back into the fund and be available for another round of clients.
In October of 2008 the completed hives were rubbed down with lemon grass and/or beeswax to attract passing swarms. Handles were added to facilitate transporting and hanging the hives. Roofs of corrogated zinc keep out the torrential rains of the rainy season and help deflect the pounding sun during hot weather assisting the bees in keeping the hive cool. In tropical Africa, as in most hot climates, it is advantageous to keep hives in an area where they will receive shade during the warmest times of day. That way the bees will not have to spend too much effort bringing in water and fanning to keep the hives cool.
Hives were hung in the kinds of trees on which elephants most like to feed or those most valued by farmers such as shea nut trees. To be effective the hives must also placed at the points that elephants are most likely to use as entry-ways onto cropped areas so that the passing of the elephants triggers the bees' defensive behaviour. Care must be taken that the villagers do not stake out their goats or cows near the hives as animals restrained in this manner so as not to damage crops can easily be killed if they disturb the bees since they will not be able to escape.
   
Villagers from Mognori pose near the boundary of Mole Park (the sign has been enlarged in the inset). Unfortunately for subsistence farmers elephants do not always stay on their side of the boundary. "Guardian bee hives" will help to keep wandering elephants from raiding the crops necessary to feed villagers' families-and will provide nutritious honey and useful beeswax which can be utilized by the producers or sold to buy necessities.
 
Damaged jerry cans can be reconditioned to serve as swarm traps or small hives with a little modification and the addition of top-bars. BfB may be experimenting with this client-designed innovation.
Where available, bamboo canes can be used to make top-bars for the KTBH, further reducing the cost of a hive which is already the most affordable movable-frame hive. The hive was developed in the 1970's from traditional African hive designs that utilized bark, hollowed logs or basketry. Click here for complete KTBH plans or see Appendix B of Small Scale Beekeeping.
Rural beekeepers can produce high quality honey using low cost KTBH's which can be used at home or sold to make a significant contribution to the family's income.

The word "babar", in the Gonja language of the Northern Region of Ghana, where the project has been initiated, means "come to my aid". In addition, it is also Turkish for lion. Lions have long held an odd and almost mystical association with honeybees (see "The Bee-Riddled Carcass"). We allude to these associations to title a project to promote conservation, eco-tourism and beekeeping as an income-generating activity in developing countries:

bees for babar®

 

In August 2007 a small group of American, Canadian and Ghanaian friends incorporated "bees for babar" (BfB) as a registered non-profit society in British Columbia to assist subsistence farmers who have suffered crop losses caused by wildlife, particularly elephants. To achieve this, BfB intends to provide beehives and beekeeping training for farmers whose cultivated plots are on land adjoining wildlife reserves in Ghana.

This project will principally benefit subsistence farmers whose cultivated plots are on land surrounding wildlife reserves such as Mole Park in Ghana.

Funds raised by the "bees for babar" society are used to provide apicultural training and to purchase materials for the construction of hives and beekeeping equipment as a means of discouraging wildlife from raiding farmers' crop as well as to provide supplemental income from increased pollination of crops and the sale of honey and wax.

Thanks!

Project benefits:

  • bees will drive off raiding elephants– preserving the elephants (who might otherwise be poached by enraged farmers)
  • reducing elephant raids will preserve crops (elephants can destroy a farmer's entire harvest in a single visit and are a real problem in the project area)
  • pollination will increase the community's food production (many fruit and vegetable crops depend on honeybee pollination)
  • honey harvest from bee hives is a nutritious food that can be used by the family or can be sold to purchase other items.
  • beeswax and related products (such as candles and cosmetics) can be produced and sold to make a significant contribution to household income.

Guiding principles:

  • Conservation of earth's precious wildlife must be undertaken in light of the grim necessities of life facing the people who live in close proximity to critical wildlife habitat. BfB is dedicated to creating win-win scenarios that promote healthy lives for both wildlife and humans.
  • The "bee principle", of developing a social consciousness of mutual assistance and efficient division of labour to work together, must be balanced by an individualism embodied by entrepreneurial spirit: "We need to mind our own minds, wherein lie all the riches of this world. It's not a 'zero sum' game-- wealth is in the mind and the mind is capable of achieving whatsoever it desires."-- John Azu, Technical Coordinator FarmServe Africa, OIC Ghana (see "Beekeeping in Ghana"). We intend to help Ghanaians help themselves while helping each other by using and strengthening existing networks and community services.
  • The bees for babar society is committed to the responsible utilization of natural resources, including monies earmarked for the stewardship of those resources. We aim to make every dollar count. Society members are all non-paid volunteers with intentions to keep it that way so that all proceeds can be funneled to fieldwork.

To donate send a cheque to the address at bottom (a receipt will be issued to you) or make a PayPal contribution to the e-mail address below (replace "(at)" with "@" or contact me to make alternate arrangements). A donation of $60 will sponsor an entire hive and personal protective equipment for a Ghanaian farmer.

uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca

As intelligent as elephants are, their attempts to circumvent the defenses of the fierce African bees by disguising themselves to blend in with the bees have thus far been unsuccessful ;-)

(This site and project has no affiliation with the family of the Mogul leader nor with other entitities using the word "babar".)

One of Ghana's national treasures is Mole National Park where populations of native wildlife are still intact. The bee-eater, as its name implies is an insectivorous bird. In some parts of Africa, elephants have recently been discouraged from raiding farms or regenerating forests by installing beehives-- even elephants are not immune to the fury of disturbed African bees since the insects can locate and target the elephants tender nostrils and ear canals. Monkeys and impala are other occasional raiders of crops that would be dissuaded from such activities by the presence of guard hives.

"proof of concept" research:

African bees to control African elephants. Fritz Vollrath and Iain Douglas-Hamilton. Naturwissenschaften. Volume 89, Number 11 / November, 2002

"proof of concept" research:

African elephants run from the sound of disturbed bees. Lucy E. King, Iain Douglas-Hamiltonand Fritz Vollrath. Current Biology. Volume 17 No 19/ 9 October 2007.

"proof of problem" documentation:

sample problem animal report near Mole Park

baby elephants
elephant, rooster and bees
ali and conrad and elephant
ben anomah
rabi, ali and ktbh

Conrad Bérubé
890 Eberts St.
Nanaimo BC V9S 1P6
(250)754-1155
email: uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca
http://www3.telus.net/Conrad

 

 


 

Copyright © 2007 Conrad Bérubé, site design, concept and scripting. All rights reserved worldwide.
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