- During late August and the beginning of September 2022 , Penrith Beekeepers Association led a six day excursion to Slovenia for a group of 16 beekeepers from Cumbria and other parts of the UK. The trip was organised by ‘Aritours’ ( a company specialising in excursions for beekeepers world wide) , and their Slovenian based ‘ApiRoutes travel agency’. They supplied a specialist guide who remained with the group for the week and arranged all the visits to beekeepers and other specialist venues across the country.
In Slovenia, beekeeping is a way of life. In this small European nation of 2 million people, 1 out of every 200 people is a beekeeper.
The Slovenian government has schemes to raise the awareness of children as young as 3 years old to the value of bees in the environment by providing schools with the financial support to provide ‘honey breakfasts’. This extends to ‘Pollinator breakfasts/ lunches’ as the children grow older. All educational schemes and capital initiatives to promote and safeguard bees receive 70% government funding.
Slovenia’s commitment to safeguarding and managing bees dates back to the 18th century, when Maria Theresa, the empress of the Hapsburg empire created the first beekeeping school in the world there, appointing Anton Jasna as the school’s teacher. Today, Jasna is considered the pioneer of moder apiculture and Zirovnica- his home valley- the cradle of Slvoenian beekeeping. World Bee Day is celebrated in Slovenia in honor of Jasna’s birthday. In 2017 it was adopted by the UN General assembly as a day to be celebrated globally. The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.
The Slovenian approach to beekeeping draws upon ancient traditions but also highly localised practises. In 2002, the government gave conservation status to the Carniolan honey bee, Slovenian’s native bee. It banned the import of other honey bee species to avoid the introduction of new diseases. It also funds a Carniolan bee breeding programme. Today, the ‘Grey Carniolan’ honeybee is the only protected native bee species in the EU. It is particularly valued for its calm disposition. It is also able to survive cold withers with lots of snow, and summers with frequent wind and rain. It continues to forage even in poor weather and collects honey dew from spruce and fir as well as nectar and pollen from other flowering plants and trees. Recently beekeepers noticed that it has a good cleaning instinct which makes it more resistant to varroa.
Slovenians also promote their unique AZ hive, after the initials of its creator Anton Znidersic. 90% of Carniolan honey bee colonies live in these small-scale painted hives designed in the early 20th century. The AZ hives allow beekeepers to monitor their bee colonies effectively by opening them at the back and sliding out the frames. The hives are arranged together side by side with a roof enclosing them and an integral room at the back for the beekeeper to sit inside to inspect the bees. Any escaping bees fly to the windows at the side of this room and escape through narrow bee space vents at the top. The gentle nature of the bees, means that they are no threat to the beekeeper when inspections are undertaken in this enclosed space. The overhanging roof protects the bees from the harsh winter conditions and the enclosed space and warmth from all the hives fitting together provides warmth and insulation throughout the year. The tradition of hand painting the fronts of the hives with different patterns and murals continues. Beekeepers also mount the hive houses onto trailer bases so that they can be easily transported to different sources of forage that become available at different times of the year.
The excursion included:
Visits to beekeepers specialising in
- the production of honey brandy and different flavours of honey, particularly those sourced from trees such as chestnut, acacia and linden.
- biodynamic beekeeping using honey massage and bee venom treatments and aromatherapy from beehives to cure emotional and physical illness.
- growing herbs and flowers for pollinators, who also produced dried herbs and homemade preserves to promote healthy diets.
- the construction of especially designed trailers to transport the bee houses
- the collection of bee pollen on specially designed trays. The pollen is then used to cure common ailments.
- queen rearing for distribution of queen bees locally, nationally and globally. (No longer permitted for import into the UK)
Venues that provided specialist information:
- The headquarters of the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association
- The Apilab Carniolan Bee House : with its research and interactive technology about the comparative characteristics of different types of bees .
Tours of different locations:
- the Karst region where the rocky limestone landscape provides foraging challenges for honey bees.
- Maribor : the capital of the Styria and the region’s university, cultural and economic centre.
- Ljubljana : the capital city of Slovenia
- Postojna Caves
Comments from the participants included:
Something I will always remember….
- A really lovely trip to the herb garden.
- Slovenian Beekeepers Association, amazing 3D bee.
- The very Modern interactive Museum.
- And of course the beautiful countryside and all huge variety of trees.
- I particularly found the biodynamic and Apitherapy talks of interest, as these areas of beekeeping are generally not taken too seriously over here in the UK, so it was refreshing to see how the bees and their products are used in different ways in Europe.
- The AZ hive was also a bit of an education! – I’ve not seen one of these before and ended up having a very long conversation when I got back with a Romanian beekeeper that I know, who also uses them throughout the more remote mountainous areas of Romania.
I’ve made a brief list of what struck me most about beekeeping in Slovenia:
- Lots of beekeepers!
- One thing that’s made a great impression was the fact that the bees take 2-3 days to recover from having their hive opened up, and it loses weight.
- The national monitoring system of weighing the hives at designated apiaries and location of forage notifications.
- Their different methods of Varoa treatment, especially the strip across the entrance.(I’d like to find that here in the future)
- That varroa don’t like a humid atmosphere, bees can keep the humidity high with a solid floor. (Did I understand that correctly?) As bees don’t like damp, I’m thinking it must be in the warmer months which is of course when varroa multiplies with lots of brood being produced.
- The other pest, we don’t usually see e.g. deaths head hawk moth.
- The wonderful Carniolan Bee
- All the fascinating variety of Apitherapy treatments.
Additional comments:
- We had such a fascinating time in Slovenia, and so lucky with Klaudji our guide, such a knowledgeable personable young man. Also of course a lovely mix of fellow beekeepers and their partners.
- It also goes without saying that our guide Klaudji was exceptional – and that’s putting it mildly! He was so knowledgeable and accommodating – a real asset to Api/ Ari-Tours. I would definitely recommend the trip.
- I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you to PBKA for patiently organising and arranging the trip. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time and learnt a thing or two about beekeeping!!
- An amazing trip….
