Farmers use bees to scare elephants off their land

Beehive fence to keep elephants away from farmlands near Tsavo in Makueni County. Elephants are known to run away from bees. [Photo: Peter Muiruri/Standard]

Jacob Musyoki is a Form Two student at Kambu Secondary School near Mtito Andei, Makueni County. His bare homestead reflects the harsh lifestyle his parents, Stephen and Juliana Musyoki have been living for the last 30 years.

As the eldest son in the family of five children, Jacob knows too well that the future of the family rests squarely on his shoulders. When we visited his family’s home two weeks ago, Jacob sat on a wooden stool outside the mud walled hovel that bore little semblance to a modern home.