Bears love honey and are willing to go to extreme lengths to get some of it. Just like the cartoon character Winnie-the-pooh, bears cannot resist the smell and taste of the golden, sweet delight. They will risk bee stings and invade a hive for honey, they know it is worth it. No problem if the beehive is in the wild, but for those farming beehives for honey, bears really do become a menace. They will stop at nothing to get their honey, and wreck the hives and any materials that will prevent them from the nectar. Damages can cost thousands of dollars, and beekeepers cannot continue to shell out money to repair their farm.

One beekeeper, Ibrahim Sedef of Trabzon, Turkey, has been struggling with bear problems. This agricultural engineer even tried securing his beehives by surrounding them with metal cages. But they did not work well, and several hives were damaged. Not to be outsmarted, he decided to study the bears’ mannerisms, movement, and behavior. He installed photo trap cameras to track the bears roaming his farm.

Sedef came out with a brilliant idea, he decided to turn the bears into honey tasters as they have  excellent tastes for honey. In this case, the objective became – if you can’t beat them, let them join you. So, he set up a table with four kinds of honey for the bears to feast on. As it turns out, he was not disappointed with the results. It seems the bear has an expensive tastes for honey.

As Sedef explains, the bears were drawn by the smell of Anzer honey as it was what they always tasted first. At times, they would not even touch the cherry blossom honey. Anzer honey sells for more than $300 for a two-pound bottle. It is one of the best types of honey. Apparently, the bears know it as well. Take it from the best honey tasters around.