Beekeeper saw bears stealing honey from his farm so he cleverly made them a part of his fun experiment
We’re always told to make the best out of any situation, no matter how negative it may seem. There is often a positive way to view a situation and transform it into a learning experience. When Ibrahim Sedef faced such a situation, he left no stone unturned to make it a relishing experience. Sedef is an agricultural engineer who has been engaged in beekeeping at his facility in the Yeniay Neighborhood, according to the Turkish outlet DHA. He knew his job and was getting his work done as best as he could until he started having trouble with unwanted intruders. He reportedly saw bears entering his facility and causing damage to his well-kept hives.
The man tried putting up fences and taking several other precautions, but in vain. When the problem persisted, Sedef knew he had to take a unique approach to save himself from the damage. He then started feeding the bears in hopes of minimizing the damage. The man planted cameras and would monitor the behavior of the bear who constantly visited him and grabbed some honey. He’d feed them different types of foods, including breads, fruits and so on. Interestingly, the bears began to show liking towards certain types of foods and ignored the others. This observation led Sedef to devise a fun plan.
"The big boys have been harming me for about 3 years, but I still feed them so that they don't cause too much harm," Sedef recalled. He continued, "During my examinations, the bears started to be selective among foods such as bread, honey, and fruit. An idea came to my mind, saying, 'I wonder what results we can get if we test the quality of our honey'." The beekeeper began to place different types of honey in jars along with some cherry jam. He did this for several months and came to an impressive conclusion.
Sedef realized that the bear only went in and grabbed Anzer, a particular type of local honey, per Hurriyet Daily News. The animal always went in first for Anzer, would have it all and then move to other jars. Even when the jars were moved around, the bear would always choose the Anzer honey. Sedef also noticed that the bear had no liking for the cherry jam and left it untouched, prioritizing the Anzer honey. “The big boy knows this job, he prefers expensive and high-quality honey. The big boy really knows his taste,” he mentioned.
Sedef found an easy, free and efficient way to test the different types of honey, thanks to the bears' impromptu visits. He has bonded with the bears over time and has understood their hunger and need to nourish themselves. He started feeding them daily and was assured a free yet quality taste test for his honey. “The bears got even stronger by eating our honey. Now they have climbed onto the container that is hard to reach and ate the honey here with gusto. We are looking at the bees and the bears. When I watch the footage, I forget about the harm and damage; I love them,” he exclaimed.
This article originally appeared 2 months ago.