Turkish Bee Farmer Made the Bears That Kept Stealing His Honey Into Taste Testers

While it might seem like something only fictional bears in storybooks get up to, the animals are notorious for their love of honey and will go to great lengths to get a hold of it. One bee farmer in Turkey was under seige by so many local bears stealing his honey that he decided to use it to his advantage. After losing more than $10,000 in honey over three years, Ibrahim Sedef decided to use the bears as his own personal taste testers.

Winnie the Pooh these bears are not, sneaking their way into Sedef's crates to make sure they can get ahold of the expensive honey. To stop them from making such a mess and trashing his hives, Sedef went through the effort to set up a table with numerous samples of his honey, DHA reports. He struggled to keep the ursine mammals away, even after leaving them snacks and locking the hives in metal cages, but by setting up a honey buffet he was able to understand their behavior further.

Sedef quickly learned the bears gravitated toward the priciest variety he produces, Anzer honey. The smell attracted the bears, who would sometimes even skip over the other varieties. Two pounds of Sedef's Anzer honey reportedly sells for around $300, so it's safe to say the bears have an expensive taste.