Beekeeper Ibrahim Sedef was having a hard time keeping bears away from his beehives near their home in Turkey’s northeastern province of Trabzon, so he decided to turn it to his advantage.
At first, Ibrahim installed steel cages to lead the bears away, but it proved no obstacle for them as they just toppled it over. He even put the hives on top of his shed so that the bears could not reach them, but the smart animals climbed trees and finished eating his honey.
“After all the trouble they went through by climbing that tree, I’ll just let them. I promise, from now on I will feed them. In spite of what happened, when I watch the recorded moments, I forget all the damage they caused me and I love them,” Ibrahim told NTV in an interview.
Instead of building other obstacles for the bears, Ibrahim decided to give the bears what they wanted and made them his honey tasters.
Ibrahim laid out the honey in different containers during night, and he could see in his night vision cameras which honey the bears liked the most.
After he tested out different honeys he found out the bears kept going after the most expensive honey and ignored the others.
They loved Anzer honey, which was said to be good for the health as it treats ailments such as tonsilities, digestion issues and skin conditions. It costs about $300 per kilogram.
Meanwhile, the least honey the bears like was cherry blossom honey.
Photos from DHA
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