bear honey getty

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Bear necessities: a hungry honey fan enjoys a pot of Anzer

As anyone who’s ever read (or watched, you philistines) Winnie-the-Pooh will know, bears love honey.

This can cause problems – not least if you’re someone who keeps bees, like Ibrahim Sedef, an agricultural engineer from Trabzon, Turkey.

Fed up with greedy bears trashing his hives, Sedef tried building metal cages for them (the hives, not the bears), which apparently weren’t strong enough. Then he left the critters some other food, such as fruit and bread: also unsuccessful.

Being a glass-half-full type, Sedef decided to make the most of his situation. Setting up a camera and a tasting table, he poured out pots of honey and waited. Handily for him, the bears made a beeline for his most expensive honey, Anzer – 2lbs (nearly a kilo) of which sells for about £250. “These big boys have good taste,” he told local news.

Now at least Sedef can apply ‘chosen by bears’ label to what produce of his survives ursine intervention.

And, as the Christmas hamper season approaches, maybe he can team up with retailers to figure out which pic-a-nic baskets bears prefer, too.

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