Learn More About the Eating Habits of the Bear

Specialised bear tours are becoming more and more accessible to the avid wildlife lover. With a reputable, experienced operator and knowledgeable guides, this kind of travel can make for a fulfilling and truly memorable experience.

While bear tours allow you plenty of opportunities to learn about the habitat and lifestyle of the animals, it can be helpful to know a little before you leave in order to make the most of the experience. One subject that may help you understand the bear more is its eating habits – including the answer to the question: do bears really love honey?

Do Bears Really Eat Honey?

In fact, this is not just a rumour and the stuff of fairy tales. Not only do they love honey, they also enjoy eating bees - which provides them with a source of much-needed protein in their diet. Black and Brown Bears have both been observed raiding beehives to get to the bees, larvae and sticky honeycomb. It is interesting to note that it is more common for the European bears to carry out this behaviour than those that reside in Alaska. The reason for this lies in the fact that the native bees of Alaska are solitary in nature, whereas European bees live in hives and congregate in many thousands. Occasionally when beehives get overcrowded, swarms of bees leave and set up a hive in the wild, providing easy pickings.

Bears will even attack domestic hives kept by beekeepers and, unless the hives are protected, an animal on the hunt for honey can devastate it in no time.

Other Food Sources

While it is true that they do enjoy honey and even dining on the bees that make it, bears certainly have more to their diet than that. Anyone travelling to Polar regions on bear tours, for example, will discover Polar Bears have a diet rich in meat, including mainly seal and other marine wildlife. Grizzly Bears, like the Black Bears, are mainly vegetarian, but will also eat insects, fish and even young moose and deer.

No matter what the species, however, the bear's diet is varied, in order to provide them with the energy they need to remain strong and healthy and see them through their long hibernation periods in winter.

For wildlife enthusiasts heading off on bear tours around the world, understanding more about the animal's eating, mating and hibernation habits will enable them to enjoy a richer and more fulfilling experience.

Marissa Ellis-Snow is a freelance nature writer. If you’re looking for bear tours, Naturetrek specialises in expert-led natural history and wildlife tours worldwide. Naturetrek brings over 25 years of experience to polar expeditions and tours to other spectacular regions on Earth.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.