Having a bee farm can be challenging, especially when you have visitors with large claws visiting it on a regular basis. Bears simply love honey, and they often cause problems when raiding the beehives.
Yet, beekeeper Ibrahim Sedef found a creative way to keep them away- by enlisting them as his honey tasters!
Mr. Sedef lives in Trabzon, Turkey and operates as an agricultural engineer in the beekeeping industry. He has been struggling with the local bears for a long time, and they were always returning to sink the teeth in the delicious honey.
Over three years, he estimates he may have lost more than $10,000 worth of honey.
He initially placed metal cages around the hives, but the bears soon learned how to open them.
He then started leaving them food to lure them away from the hives, such as fruits, bread, and even accessible honey. Yet, the bears always found a way to get the claws on the honey.
At this point, Sedef took the time to educate himself on the behaviors of these animals. He put photo trap cameras on his property and started tracking the bears roaming his bee farm at night.
After some time, he noticed that they were selective about which foods they took. Then, Sedef started working out a plan to make the bears work for him.
He set up a picnic table, and four different kinds of honey for the bears to taste test!
Sedef also placed a label on each type of honey, and the bowls included cherry jam, flower, chestnut, and Anzer honey.
Apparently, the bears have quite expensive taste when it comes to honey, and they always chose the priciest honey of the bunch.
They were especially attracted to the smell of the Anzer honey, and they always tasted it first. At times, they didn’t even try the cherry blossom honey.
Anzer honey is produced from the nectar of 90 flowers that grow only in the mountains of the Anzer plateau.
Two pounds of the mouth-watering Anzer honey costs more than $300. It is considered the best honey in the world in Turkey, and it is in high demand in Turkey.
This polyfloral honey is on the Anzer Plateau, Turkey. Anzer means “Fertile zone, place with full of meadow” in Mingrelian language.
The Anzer Plateau, aka Ballıköy Plateau, is located 35 km south-west of the İkizdere district of Rize, one of the major cities in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Its altitude varies between 2100-3000 meters from the sea level which is perfect for making the tasty honey.
The weather is rainy throughout the year, the temperature is usually low and there are very few sunny days. Yet, the flora found in the plateau is what gives this honey. There are around 500 types of common flowers and around 80 species of endemic types of flowers.
It is believed to be of great help in the treatment of various diseases, especially respiratory diseases. Moreover, it protects the liver and treats tonsil infections.
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