Over the past few months I have been working with the small farmers of the Nguluni Beekeepers Self Help Group in the Tsavo area of Kenya to find a solution to elephants raiding their fields and destroying their crops. Ideally we would like to erect electric fences, but the cost of this is very high. So instead we have have identified 'bee fences' as a possible solution.

A bee fence involves erecting a single strand wire fence with bee boxes suspended at regular intervals along its length. When elephants try and push their way through the fence the bee boxes are disturbed and the bees swarm to protect their hives. The swarming of the bees drives off the elephants. This ingenious and simple solution has proven successful in other parts of Kenya. And, in addition to providing protection from elephant the bees also provide honey that can be sold to generate much needed cash income for the farmers. So this is what we are raising funds for.

We need approximately £3000 for the materials to build the bee boxes and the fences for the 28 members of this group. We also need money to purchase protective clothing to allow these farmers to safely work with the bees. In addition we want to buy the equipment needed to extract, process, and bottle the honey. The protective clothing and the processing equipment will cost approximately £3000, and will be shared by the members. Finally, we need to raise money to provide basic training in beekeeping. We have already been in discussion with the Kwetu Training Centre in the nearby city of Mombasa to provide this training. Training for 10 farmers will cost £2000. These 10 farmers will then share what they learn with the rest of the group.

Your support for this project would be enormously appreciated, and would make a real difference to the lives of my friends in Nguluni. It would also go some way to reducing the conflict between people and elephants in this area, allowing them to live in greater harmony.