| In the past, monasteries were the center of rural culture
and economic development. This was especially true in
the case of the Stična monastery, where the Cistercian
monks continue their beekeeping tradition. Of course we
cannot overlook the former Landspreis estate near Trebnje, where
the neatly renovated church of St. Joseph safeguards Peter Pavel Glavar’s
remains. The credit for its renovation goes largely to the Trebnje beekeepers.
A typical characteristic of the Lower Carniolan landscape has
always been the wooden bee house with a thatched roof; an example of
this can today be seen in front of the house in Muljava where the
Slovenian writer Josip Jurčič was born. The well-known beekeeper
Tone Koželj of Grosuplje keeps several bee trucks and bee yards
here
and he is more than pleased when curious tourists pay him a visit. |
 |
This is a diverse hilly region, covered with mixed forests in the
north, and vineyards, neatly cultivated fields, and meadows
in the south. The region is also rich in cultural monuments.
Well-known Slovenians were born in these parts, such as
Bishop Frederic Baraga, a
missionary that worked among the North American Indians, and the
writer Josip Jurčič, as well as many poets, singers, and painters.
Beekeepers can tell you a great deal about Peter Pavel
Glavar. He spent the last third
of his life at his estate near Trebnje, called Landspreis.
There he established a large
bee farm and even ran his own beekeeping school, where
talented boys from the
neighborhood learned about bees. It was there that he
wrote the first Slovenian
book on beekeeping. The castle was destroyed after the
Second World War, so the
chapel is the only thing that has remained
of the former estate. At Landspreis, a commemoration with
a mass and various other activities is held every
year on the first Saturday in May.
Many beekeepers from all over Slovenia attend this event. |
BEEKEEPING POINTS OF INTEREST
* The Trebnje beekeepers have prepared several tourist routes
for visitors, but due to limited space we cannot describe
all of them. However, we recommend a visit
to at least the following four places:
*
Bee yards with Langstroth-Root (LR) and Alberti-Žnideršič
(AŽ) hives
owned by Tone Koželj in Mala Vas near Dobrnič, next to the castle, where the missionary Frederic Baraga was born;
* St. Joseph’s Chapel at Landspreis near Trebnje, where Peter
Pavel Glavar and his step-brother, General Jernej Basaj,
are buried; near the chapel there is a bee yard with LR hives;
* The wooden thatched Lower Carniolan bee
house next to the house in Muljava where the
writer Josip Jurčič was born;
* Queen-breeding stations around Litija.
|
HIGHLY RECOMENDED
Stična: the oldest Slovenian monastery.
A tour of the great monastery church, the cloister, and
the Slovenian Museum of Christianity, which keeps part of the well-known 12th-century Stična
manuscripts;
Bogenšperk Castle: one of the most
important Slovenian cultural monuments, where Janez Vajkard Valvasor worked;
Muljava: the house where the writer
Josip Jurčič was born. In the vicinity is an old church
with one of the most beautiful gilded altars in Slovenia. |
