PeopleinMayilattumpara,avillageinsouthwestIndia,couldnotsleepatnight.Becauseofhabitatloss,wildelephantswouldentertheirvillagetolookforfood,destroyingcropsandfarmland.Thevillagerstriedtokeepthewildelephantsoutwithelectricfences,deepholesandplantsbelievedtokeeptheanimalsaway.Theyeventriedbeatingdrums.Nothingworked!Therepeateddestructionofcropsledsomevillagerstostopfarming.Butthesituationturnedaroundlastyear.Thatisbecauseresidentshavefinallyfoundwhatkeepstheelephantsaway:honeybees.Elephants,itturnsout,areafraidofloudlybuzzingbeesandtheirstings.Awirefenceholdingbeehivesnowstretchesalongtheborderofthevillage.Whenelephantstrytopassthe2.5kilometerwirefence,angrybeesswarmoutandtheelephantsquicklyflee,peopleinthevillagesay.Protectedbythebees,farmershavereturnedtogrowingtheircrops.Someevenstartedtocultivatehoney.V.S.Royworksforthefederalgovernment’sAgricultureTechnologyManagementAgency(ATMA).HesaidtheideaforthefencecamefromtheworkofanOxforduniversityresearcher,LucyKing.In,KingsuccessfullytestedwhetherhoneybeeswouldkeepelephantsawayfromareasinKenya.ResearchersinTanzaniahadthesamesuccess.Roywondered,"Ifitcould(work)intheAfricanforest,whycouldn’titintheKeralaforest?"So,heworkedwiththefarmer’sassociationinMayilattumparatostarttheexperiment.Thefencecostabout$8,withfundingfromtheATMA.JohnyKocheryhas9hectaresoffarmlandinthevillage.Hesaidsettingupthefenceandbeehiveswasnoteasy.Thefarmersneededtofindthemosteffectivefenceandhivesystem.Theyalsoneededtolearnhowtoreplacediseasedcolonies,careforthebeesanddealwiththecostofkeepingupthesystem.Kocherysaidthatlastseasonthefarmerswerenotabletomakeaprofit.Butthisyeartheyhopetohaveabigharvest.Theresultsofthisexperimenthaveencouragedfarmersfromotherareastotrysimilarprojects.Thegovernmentalsohasbeenworkingtoresolveconflictbetweenhumansandelephantsbyreducingdeforestationandimprovingtheelephants’naturalhabitat.E.AJaysonisascientistwiththeKeralaForestResearchInstitute.Hesaidthefencingseemstokeeptheelephantaway.Buttherearenownewproblemstosolve.Wehavemetwithincidencesoftheftofbeehiveboxes,Jaysonsaid.I’mMarioRitter.
PeopleinMayilattumpara,avillageinsouthwestIndia,couldnotsleepatnight.印度东南部马伊拉图帕拉小镇的人们晚上都不能入睡。
Becauseofhabitatloss,wildelephantswouldentertheirvillagetolookforfood,destroyingcropsandfarmland.由于栖息地的减少，野生大象会进入村庄寻找食物，破坏庄稼和农场。
Thevillagerstriedtokeepthewildelephantsoutwithelectricfences,deepholesandplantsbelievedtokeeptheanimalsaway.Theyeventriedbeatingdrums.Nothingworked!村民曾试过使用电栅栏、深坑和认为可以隔离动物的植物阻拦野生大象。他们甚至试过敲鼓。但是都不管用。
Therepeateddestructionofcropsledsomevillagerstostopfarming.Butthesituationturnedaroundlastyear.农作物不断受到破坏使得一些村民不再种庄稼。但去年情况发生了变化。
Thatisbecauseresidentshavefinallyfoundwhatkeepstheelephantsaway:honeybees.因为村民们最终发现了可以阻拦大象的方法：蜜蜂。
Elephants,itturnsout,areafraidofloudlybuzzingbeesandtheirstings.据证明，大象害怕嗡嗡作响的蜜蜂和它们的刺。
Awirefenceholdingbeehivesnowstretchesalongtheborderofthevillage.Whenelephantstrytopassthe2.5kilometerwirefence,angrybeesswarmoutandtheelephantsquicklyflee,peopleinthevillagesay.布满蜂房的线网现在围扎在村庄周围。当大象想要越过这2.5千米长的线栅栏时，生气的蜜蜂就会倾巢而出，大象就会很快逃走，村里的人们说道。
Protectedbythebees,farmershavereturnedtogrowingtheircrops.Someevenstartedtocultivatehoney.在蜜蜂的保护下，农民开始重新种植庄稼。一些人甚至开始采蜂蜜。
V.S.Royworksforthefederalgovernment’sAgricultureTechnologyManagementAgency(ATMA).罗伊就职于联邦政府的农业科技管理部门。
HesaidtheideaforthefencecamefromtheworkofanOxforduniversityresearcher,LucyKing.In,KingsuccessfullytestedwhetherhoneybeeswouldkeepelephantsawayfromareasinKenya.ResearchersinTanzaniahadthesamesuccess.他说，栅栏的想法来自牛津大学的研究者露西·金。年，金成功测试蜜蜂能否阻挡肯尼亚地区的大象。坦桑尼亚研究者也同样取得了成功。
Roywondered,"Ifitcould(work)intheAfricanforest,whycouldn’titintheKeralaforest?"So,heworkedwiththefarmer’sassociationinMayilattumparatostarttheexperiment.罗伊想：“如果这个方法在非洲森林能起作用，为什么不能在客拉拉省的森林中试一下呢？”所以他和马伊拉图帕拉的农民合作，开始了这个实验。
Thefencecostabout$8,withfundingfromtheATMA.这个栅栏耗资8美元，由联邦政府的农业科技管理部门出资。
JohnyKocheryhas9hectaresoffarmlandinthevillage.Hesaidsettingupthefenceandbeehiveswasnoteasy.Thefarmersneededtofindthemosteffectivefenceandhivesystem.Theyalsoneededtolearnhowtoreplacediseasedcolonies,careforthebeesanddealwiththecostofkeepingupthesystem.约翰尼·考克尔在村子里有9公顷的农田。他说设立栅栏和蜂巢并不简单。农民需要发现最有效的栅栏和蜂巢系统。他们还需要学会如何替换生病的蜂群，照顾蜜蜂，承担养殖蜂群的费用。
Kocherysaidthatlastseasonthefarmerswerenotabletomakeaprofit.Butthisyeartheyhopetohaveabigharvest.考克尔说，上季度农民没能获得收益。但今年，他们希望能获得大丰收。
Theresultsofthisexperimenthaveencouragedfarmersfromotherareastotrysimilarprojects.Thegovernmentalsohasbeenworkingtoresolveconflictbetweenhumansandelephantsbyreducingdeforestationandimprovingtheelephants’naturalhabitat.这个实验的结果鼓励其他地区的农民尝试相似的项目。政府也在解决人类和大象之间的冲突。通过减少土地沙漠化和改善大象自然栖息地的方式。
E.AJaysonisascientistwiththeKeralaForestResearchInstitute.Hesaidthefencingseemstokeeptheelephantaway.Buttherearenownewproblemstosolve.杰森是客拉拉省森林研究所的科学家。他说，栅栏似乎可以阻挡大象。但是现在还有新问题等待解决。
Wehavemetwithincidencesoftheftofbeehiveboxes,Jaysonsaid.“我们现在偶尔会遇到偷蜂巢的贼，”杰森说道。
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