JOHANNESBURG - Lore has it that elephants are afraid of mice, but scientists have now discovered that elephants are truly afraid of bees - and that the pachyderms even sound an alarm when they encounter them. The researchers hope this discovery can help save farmers' crops from elephants. And they hope it will save elephants, too.
Conflict between humans and elephants in countries like Kenya occur often. A single hungry elephant can wipe out a family's crops overnight.
Lucy King, a researcher into animal behavior whose paper on elephants alarm calls was published in a journal of the Public Library of Science last week, said farmers could make "bee fences" by stringing up hives on poles. A strong wire connecting the poles would cause them to swing when an elephant walks into it, disturbing the bees.