[The Bee Box: How Sound Waves Can Solve Giant Problems]-[My Elephant Got Loose! (7/10/23)]

Wow in the World · B1 · 2023-07-10

📋 Summary

The Bee Box: A Sonic Solution to Elephant Encounters

In this episode of Wow in the World, hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz explore an ingenious, non-invasive method for mitigating human-wildlife conflict: the "bee box." When a giant African elephant named Stampy suddenly appears in their suburban neighborhood, causing chaos and destruction, the duo turns to scientific innovation to solve their "very big elephant problem."

The Science of Fear: Why Elephants Avoid Bees

As Mindy explains, the inspiration for their solution comes from agricultural practices in Africa and Asia, where farmers have long struggled with "pesky wild elephants" raiding their crops. For generations, these farmers have utilized physical "bee boxes"—hives hung along property fences. When an elephant approaches, it rocks the fence, disturbs the bees, and the resulting buzzing sends the elephant "hightail[ing] it out of there."

This behavior is rooted in millions of years of evolution. Research, including a 2017 study, indicates that these bee-filled fences are approximately 80% effective at deterring elephants. The sound of the buzzing acts as a powerful natural deterrent, signaling danger to the animals.

Evolution of Innovation: Bee Box 2.0

While the original bee boxes were effective, they required maintaining actual beehives, which is not practical for every situation. Mindy introduces the concept of "Bee Box 2.0," developed by a group called Elephant Research and Conservation. This iteration is "completely bee-free."

Researchers discovered that the physical presence of bees is not strictly necessary; rather, it is the "buzzing noise" itself that triggers the flight response in elephants. By recording the sound of bees and playing it through a speaker, researchers can achieve the same deterrent effect. To make the system efficient, they connected these speakers to a "motion detector," ensuring the sound only plays when an elephant is detected nearby.

Implementation and Results

In their own "Laboratory of Bad Ideas," Mindy and Guy Raz construct a functional prototype. Mindy records her own bee colony to create the audio track, emphasizing the need for "aggression" in the recording to effectively scare away the intruder. After attaching the speaker to a motion sensor and securing it to a mailbox using "chewed up gum," they successfully test their device.

When the elephant approaches the neighborhood, the Bee Box triggers, playing the buzzing sound. The result is immediate: the elephant "stopped right in its tracks and turned around," successfully clearing the suburban street of the giant visitor without harm to the animal or the residents.

Conclusion

This episode highlights how biomimicry and sound-based technology offer humane alternatives to traditional wildlife management. By understanding the evolutionary triggers of animals, researchers can develop "fully functional" solutions that protect both human property and wildlife. As Mindy playfully suggests, the potential for these devices is vast—ranging from simple recordings to potential "barbershop quartet" arrangements of bee sounds—demonstrating that even the most "pesky" problems can be solved through creative scientific application.

🎯Key Sentences

It's going to be a November to remember.

But for now, let's get on with the show.

No, don't make this harder than it already is.

What a pleasant surprise!

That doesn't sound right.

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📝Key Phrases

music to your ears

get on with the show

make this harder than it already is

better off

pleasant surprise

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📖 Transcript

Grownups, Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Wow in the World early and ad-free right now.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Hey, Wowzer fans, Mindy here.

And before we start the show, I gotta let you know that this November, with a special new episode featuring our friends at Circle Round and Terrestrials on Radiolab for Kids,

And don't miss when Elmo from Sesame Street stops by Wow in the World to make us all belly laugh on November 24th.

Oh, but that's not all, Reg.

Or study on the web version →