A Great Beekeeping Tradition

In Slovenia beekeeping is considered to be the poetry of agriculture. It is not merely keeping bees for their honey, but much more. It is a way of life.

Many internationally respected pioneers of apiculture were born or worked in Slovenia, including Anton Janša, Peter Pavel Glavar, Dr. Filip Tertsch and innovator and commercial beekeeper Anton Žnideršič (1874-1947) who co-developed of the A-Ž hive.

In Slovenia beekeeping is considered to be the poetry of agriculture. It is not merely keeping bees for their honey, but much more. It is a way of life.

Lying on the southern sunny side of Alps, mixed coniferous and deciduous forests cover around 50% of the country, which lies in a zone where warm Mediterranean, cool Alpine and the seasonally varied Continental climate regimes meet. Climate and topography have encouraged the development of a wealth of species, including some important nectar-bearing plants. Its diversity has ensured that Slovenia is a paradise for bees, whilst beekeeping, as one of this territory’s oldest and most traditional rural activities, forms an important element of Slovenian culture.

Many internationally respected pioneers of apiculture were born or worked in Slovenia. A number – including Anton Janša, Peter Pavel Glavar, Dr. Filip Tertsch and innovator and commercial beekeeper Anton Žnideršič (1874-1947) who co-developed of the A-Ž hive – are regarded as legends. These men laid the foundation stones of the extensive beekeeping heritage which we enjoy today, and it has been through their endeavours that Slovenes have been made aware as to the important role of bees in the environment, as well as the significance of apiculture in rural development and human health.

General information

In 1873 the Carniolan Association for Prudent Beekeeping was established in Ljubljana, which represents the beginning of the organisation of the Slovenian beekeepers. Since 1898, we have been publishing the technical magazine Slovenian Beekeeper (Slovenski čebelar).

Today the beekeeping organisation is known as the Slovenian Beekeeper’s Association. It includes 207 beekeeping societies and 14 regional beekeeping associations, with a total of about 7,500 beekeepers. Its main tasks include the education and training of beekeepers in the framework of lifelong learning, publishing the Slovenian Beekeeper monthly and various technical books, the preparation of exhibitions, discussions and symposiums, the organisation of school clubs, beekeeping camps and workshops, raising the public awareness about the importance of bees in the preservation of the environment, the promotion of bee products in healthy nutrition and the list goes on and on.

Boštjan Noč, the president of Slovenian Beekeepers Association

On behalf of Slovenia’s beekeepers we would like to invite you to this world of bees and nature, this with the firm expectation that this land’s fine apicultural tradition and the hospitality of its people will leave an indelible memory!

Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association

Brdo 8, 1225 Lukovica
Slovenia
T. +386 1 7296 102
E. info@czs.si