Photo: oorka5/Depositphotos (Not a photo of the actual bear)
Bears going crazy over honey is a trope we often see in media, particularly children’s cartoons. However, a very real example of this was recorded by Turkish beekeeper Ibrahim Sedef. After bears kept breaking into his bee hives, he tried concealing them, which didn’t work. So, he leaned into the creatures’ honey obsession, turning them into taste testers and finding some very interesting insights about their preferences.
Over the course of three years, Sedef estimates he may have lost “more than $10,000 worth of honey” to the greedy bears. To keep it safe, the beekeeper first tried with decoys, leaving out a buffet of apples, bread, persimmons, and decoy honey, but the bears kept coming back and breaking in. Sedef also tried with storage houses and metal cages, but the furry creatures always found a way in.
Running out of ideas, Sedef decided it was best to track the animals. In 2019, he set up some nighttime recording equipment and ran an experiment to see which honey the bears preferred. The beekeeper set up four bowls: three with different types of honey—flower, chestnut, and Anzer—and one with cherry jam.
The footage is not only adorable but also quite revealing. Out of the four containers, the bears are immediately drawn to Azner honey, which is believed to be the most expensive honey in the world. It is produced from the nectar of 90 flowers that grow only in the mountains of the Anzer plateau. It can cost up to $300 a kilogram, and it’s highly sought after due to its healing qualities, which include relieving stomach pains, hair loss, and wound treatment.
To be sure, Sedef even tried arranging the types of honey in a different order, but the bears still went straight for the Anzer honey first. After realizing they were quite the connoisseurs, the beekeeper couldn’t help but relate to them, which made the stolen honey water under the bridge.
“Despite all this, when I see the footage, I forget all the harm they have done to me, and love them,” he said.
You can watch the bear excitedly going after the delicious in the video below.
After bears kept breaking into Turkish beekeeper Ibrahim Sedef’s bee hives in search of honey, he decided to record them and see what they preferred.
Photo: Shablovskyistock/Depositphotos
The footage sees a honey-stealing bear immediately drawn to Azner honey, believed to be the most expensive in the world.
Anzer honey is the best, gourmets show… Highly recommended https://t.co/WkDDy5GbDY
— Türkiye in Los Angeles (@TC_LosAngelesBK) August 21, 2019
Watch the bear excitedly going after the delicious honey.
h/t: [Time]
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