A beekeeper in Turkey whose stock was persistently swiped by a group of bears ran an experiment and discovered the thieving animals have very expensive taste when it comes to honey.
Ibrahim Sedef, an engineer from Trabzon, had been struggling to keep bears out of his beehives, despite building storage houses and metal cages, The Guardian reported.
He estimates he may have lost more than $10,000 worth of honey.
After fruitless attempts to divert the thieves, even using food decoys, Mr Sedef decided to do his own form of animal testing and set up recording equipment to see which type of honey the bears preferred.
He set up four bowls, three with different types of honey - flower, chestnut and Anzer - and another with cherry jam.
Mr Sedef's testing revealed the bears had very expensive taste in honey. Their favourite, Anzer honey, is believed to be the most costly in the world.
Only 90 flowers, grown exclusively in the mountains of the Anzer plateau, produce the nectar needed to produce the honey.
