Slovenia is the homeland of the Carniolan bee (Apis mellifera carnica). Slovenian beekeepers also like to call it the Carniolan
gray (Sln. kranjska sivka) because its abdominal segments are covered with light gray hairs. It is known for being gentle,
hard-working, frugal, and for having an excellent sense of orientation.
This bee race has spent several thousand years adapting to Slovenia’s climate and forage conditions. It can
survive cold winters with lots of snow, and summers with frequent rain and wind, and it makes good use of forage
when the weather permits. It has become particularly skilled at finding and collecting honeydew on spruce and fir; in this
aspect, it clearly outranks other bee races. Those in the know also credit it with a good cleaning instinct, which makes it less
susceptible to various diseases.
It may well be its gentle character (some even call it the “lady bee”) that made people grow so fond of it and start keeping it
in bee houses close to their homes. News of its characteristics soon reached beekeepers in other countries; at first those in
Central Europe, which was home to the aggressive dark species Apis mellifera mellifera. At the end of the 19th century, a
brisk trade in live Carniolan bees and swarms began, which later included queens as well. The long wooden Carniolan
hive, which could be worked either from the back or the front, was perfect for long-distance transport of bees in carts.

Up until the First World War, specialized Slovenian merchants exported several tens of thousands of bee colonies, and in
many areas these completely displaced the indigenous dark bee. Their work is now being continued by queen breeders,
who sell approximately 30,000 queens a year, primarily to central and western Europe, and some also overseas.

Slovenia is the only EU member state that has protected its indigenous bee race, which means no other bee race is allowed
to be bred here.