Vast spruce forests often provide excellent honeydew
forage for
bees. Spruce honey is one of the highest-quality types of honey in
Central Europe. No wonder that beekeeping has always been welldeveloped
in this region, which is also testified by the numerous bee
houses standing next to the farms. The spruce forests with the highest
honeydew yield can be found on the slopes of the Menina Pasture
in the Gornji Grad area. |
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The landscape of one of the most beautiful Alpine valleys – the Logar
Valley – is adorned by the peaks of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and
Rinka Falls. The Upper Savinja Valley boasts a variety of special natural
and cultural features, hospitable farms, and hidden
corners of pristine nature, such as the fairytale Roban Combe.
THE BEE HOUSE: A Natural Sanatorium Spending a few hours
at the bee house every day, inhaling the air filled with
the essential aromas of bee colonies and the
positive energy exuded by a bee colony, strengthens the immune system,
has a beneficial effect on respiratory diseases, reduces
stress symptoms, and improves one’s general state of
health. Slovenians can be grateful to their forefathers for creating the
bee house because, if properly adapted, it is an ideal place for apitherapy.
Many Slovenian beekeepers reserve a
corner for themselves in their bee houses, where they usually put
a deckchair, to boost their immune system and “charge their
batteries” for the stressful days ahead. This is a new internationally recognized
apitherapy method. Why should this natural sanatorium
remain the privilege of beekeepers alone? Anyone can use
it if they talk to the beekeeper that owns the bee house
and arrange to share it. During the “treatment” the beekeeper
will open the doors of the hives to let the aromatic air
fill the room. The bees are kept safely behind screened windows, so they do not pose any threat to
anyone.
The “patients” need no protective hats or gloves. |
BEEKEEPING POINTS OF INTEREST
* Mozirje: bust of the priest and beekeeper Janez Goličnik, who was the first to translate
Anton Janša’s Vollständige Lehre von der Bienezucht (A Complete Course in Beekeeping)
from German into Slovenian;
* The Žehelj Bee Farm in Pusto Polje;
* The queen-mating station in Luče ob Savinji;
* Carved wooden bee houses in Roban Combe. |
HIGHLY RECOMENDED
The Mozirje Grove botanical gardens. You
can take a walk in this luxuriant park, through the abundant
flower beds, past a mill, a traditional farmhouse, a granary, and a smithy, to the bee house,
in front of which there is a statue of St. Ambrose, the patron saint of beekeepers;
Roban Combe: an idyllic nature park
with rugged mountain farms and beautifully carved bee houses;
The Logar Valley: one of the most
beautiful Alpine valleys. You can enjoy the magnificent
natural scenery to your heart’s content below Okrešelj Cirque, at
the source of the Savinja River, where
it
drops into this glacial valley, surrounded by a wreath of magnificent mountains, as Rinka Falls;
Radmirje: a unique collection of chasubles
in the local parish church;
Gornji Grad: the largest cathedral with the largest dome in Slovenia. |
