Ibrahim Sedef keeps bees in the best location in the world.
Trabzon province in Turkey, near the Black Sea, has a climate that is perfect for bees.
Sedef and his bees make flower honey, chestnut honey, cherry honey and the famed and rare Anzer honey. Anzer honey comes from the nectar of 90 flowers that grow in the mountains on the Anzer plateau. About 8 ounces sells for $34.
Gourmet honey tasters consistently rate Anzer as the best in the world, but it's expensive, and part of that cost is in security. For while Anzer is perfect for bees, it's also great for bears.
And bears love honey.
Sedef has enclosed his hives with a steel bar cage, easy for bees to come and go, but more difficult for bears. Difficult — but not impossible.
On YouTube, you can watch Sedef's video of bears gleefully destroying hives, climbing on Sedef's workshop and generally making a party out of honey theft. The video of Sedef cleaning up the mess is in Turkish, but you won't need a translator.
Recently, in the most brilliant taste test in all of marketing, Sedef decided to set up a bear picnic with samples of each honey, including Anzer. He set up a night vision camera to record the action.
The bears surely did come to the honey (without bee stings) picnic. They sniffed each bowl and they chose Anzer. In multiple tests, the bears always ate Anzer first. Bee-made, bear approved.
