PART ONE

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Beekeeping has been an important traditional farming activity in Slovenia, which dates long back into its history. Today it is increasingly becoming a tourist product offering an authentic experience in close harmony with nature and heritage. The beekeeping tradition in Slovenia is very long. Anton Janša was the first beekeeping teacher in imperial Vienna. It has also some particularities such as the unique painted beehive panels and the special traditional architecture of the bee houses.

More than 200 years ago Anton Janša (1734-1773) revealed the knowledge of a small Slovenian farmer - beekeeper to the world. He was the first beekeeping teacher in imperial Vienna. One hundred years later the area became famous for its own bee, the Apis mellifera carnica, which soon became known all over the world and is one of the three most qualitative breeds in the world: it is famous for its tameness, calmness and high honey production yields.

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Slovenians are seen as an outstanding "beekeeping nation" since there are four beekeepers per thousand inhabitants. In Italy, Germany and France, for example, there is only one per thousand inhabitants, while in Austria there are only two beekeepers per thousand inhabitants. While bee populations in countries such as the US are dwindling at an alarming rate, Slovenia is the only EU member state to have officially protected its prized bee race. They have 9600 beekeepers, around 12,500 apiaries and nearly 170,000 hive colonies.

The Carniolan honey bee is known for its friendly nature (they rarely sting) and hardy characteristics (they can survive sub-zero temperatures), which explains why they sell 30,000 Queen Carniolan bees to European countries each year.

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History, tradition, modern beekeeping and the healing effects of honey and honey products are nowadays also becoming interesting for those who are not beekeepers themselves. Slovenia is thus successfully turning its tradition into apicultural tourism.
The Slovenian Beekeepers` Association, offers new ways of exchanging knowledge and experience in the field of apiculture and apitherapy, and new ways of discovering Slovenia for all beekeepers, lovers of bees and nature, and most of all for those who travel because they want to enrich their life.

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PART TWO

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Our New Slovenian AZ Bee Hive

Available at:

What Happens If All The Bees Die?

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PART THREE

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THE CARNIOLAN HONEY BEE

The Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica, Pollmann) is a subspecies of the western honey bee. The Carniolan honey bee is native to Slovenia, southern Austria, and parts of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

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Carniolan honey bees are about the same size as the Italian honey bee, but they are physically distinguished by their generally dusky brown-grey color that is relieved by stripes of a subdued lighter brown color. Their chitin is dark, but it is possible to find lighter colored or brown colored rings and dots on their bodies. They are also known as the "grey bee".

Carniolan bees are nearly as big and long as the Western European black bees, though their abdomens are much slimmer. Furthermore, the Carniolan bee has a very long tongue (6.5 to 6.7 mm, which is very well adapted for clover), a very high elbow joint and very short hair.

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Strengths

  • Considered to be gentle and non-aggressive
  • Can be kept in populated areas
  • Sense of orientation considered better than the Italian honey bee
  • Less drifting of bees from one hive to a neighboring hive
  • When compared to the Italian honey bee, they are not as prone to rob honey
  • Able to overwinter in smaller numbers of winter bees
  • Honey stores are conserved
  • Able to quickly adapt to changes in the environment
  • Better for areas with long winters
  • Fast rhythm of brood production and then brood rearing reduction when available forage decreases
  • Low use of propolis
  • Resistant to brood diseases
  • For areas with strong spring nectar flow and early pollination
  • Forage earlier in the morning and later in the evening, and on cool, wet days
  • Workers live up to 12% longer than other breeds

Weaknesses

  • More prone to swarming if overcrowded
  • Low ability to thrive in hot summer weather
  • Strength of broodnest more dependent on availability of pollen
  • Unless marked the dark queenis difficult to find

MORPHOLOGY OF A BEE

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HEAD / foremost part
THORAX / central part
ABDOMEN / rear part
WING / appendage of a bee used for aerial locomotion
SEGMENT / part of the abdomen
HIND LEG / rear limb
NAIL / pointed nail of a bee
MIDDLE LEG / middle limb
FORE LEG / front limb
SPUR / projecting part of the foreleg of a bee
TARSUS / each of the parts that make up the segment of the bee's leg below the tibia
TIBIA / central part of the bee's leg
FEMUR / first part of the bee's leg
MOUTH PARTS / parts of the mouth
COMPOUND EYES / complex sight organ
ANTENNA / touch organ of a bee

HIVE

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HIVE / shelter of a colony of bees
ROOF / part of the hive that protects it from bad weather
ALVEOLATE FRAME
(HONEYCOMBED FRAME) / frame containing the cells
HIVE BODY / box
SUPPORTING PLATFORM / base of the hive
ENTRANCE / opening through which the bees enter and leave the hive
CANOPY / part of the hive that protects the entrance from the wind
MATLING / small, thick particle board used to divide the hive
SUPER / object used to raise the hive
VENTILATION HOLE
(AIR HOLE) / hole that allows the circulation of air

THE MUSEUM OF APICULTURE

Museum of Apiculture, located in the Baroque Radovljica Mansion in the historic centre of Radovljica (together with Municipal Museum of Radovljica), was founded in 1959 by the executive committee of the Beekeepers' Association of Slovenia in response to an appeal in the journal Slovenski čebelar [Slovene Beekeeper] to collect more material on the ancient practice of beekeeping. It is unique in Slovenia and Europe in terms of its contents and coverage. It boasts the largest exhibited collection of painted beehive panels, which are a curiosity from the world of Slovene folk art. Among other things, visitors can also take time out to admire the oldest preserved panel which dates back to 1758. The museum also features an observation beehive with live bees.

The museum displays the rich tradition of Slovene apiculture or beekeeping which was an important branch of agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries. The technical section of the museum shows the most typical habitats of bees and apicultural tools, the biological room highlights the life and work of the autochthonous bee "kranjska sivka" (apis mellifera carnica), the art exhibition features the unique Slovene folk art of painted beehive front boards. A copy of the apiary of the famous beekeeper Anton Janša (1734–1773) has been installed in nearby Breznica.

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LITERATURE[1]

VIDEO CLIPS[2]

Our New Slovenian AZ Bee Hive

What Happens If All The Bees Die?

[1] last accessed on November 4th, 2016

[2] last accessed on November 4th, 2016