Bees, as pollinators, play an important role for humankind in terms of providing food, food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and a healthy environment. Hence, in 2014, the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association launched the proposal that WORLD BEE DAY be celebrated. On 20 December 2017, the United Nations General Assembly finally declared 20 May as World Bee Day. Every year on this day, the attention of the global public is drawn to the importance of preserving bees and other pollinators.
Photo credit: www.visitmaribor.si/Marko Petrej
Slovenia proposed the celebration of World Bee Day in the month of May, when bees in the northern hemisphere are most active and begin to reproduce. The chosen day, 20 May, is also the birthday of Slovenian beekeepers Anton Janša (1734–1773), a pioneer of modern beekeeping and one of the greatest experts in this field in his day. He was the first teacher of modern beekeeping anywhere in the world, appointed by the Empress Maria Theresa as a permanent teacher at the new beekeeping school in Vienna.
Photo credit: www.visitmaribor.si / Domen Groegl
Photo credit: www.visitmaribor.si / Bernarda Karo
To mark the 2nd World Bee Day and the birth of Anton Janša, the City of Maribor prepared a guided Api Tour of Maribor on 27 May 2019 that will remain as Maribor Convention Bureau’s, lead by Bernarda Karo, incentive programme. The tour includes a visit of Cesar Beekeeping and its case of good practice. The Master of honey and honey beverages, Marko Cesar, has in his 11 years of his work received numerous awards and accolades that confirm his high-quality production.
Photo credit: www.visitmaribor.si / Bernarda Karo
The tour’s bus then takes to another beehive – to Andrejev Čebelnjak Beekeper’s Association Andrej Močnik where Vlado Vogrinec, the president of Beekeepers’ Association of Maribor Associations, presents the product ‘Become a beekeeper for a day’. At the same stop, visitors are also able to see the Carniolan Honey Bee which is native to Slovenia and is the second most popular species among beekeepers (after the Italian bee).
Photo credit: Richard Bartz, Munich Makro Freak & Beemaster Hubert Seibring, Munich
And on the last stop, the attendees to the incentive tour, visit a renovated beehive at the Svečina Castle and observe the work of a beekeeper through glass. Along the entire tour, the participants are pampered with tastings of honey delicacies. A marvellous way for any congress or business guest to the capital of Slovenian Styria to be introduced into the real world of bees.
Photo credit: www.visitmaribor.si / Marko Petrej
Photo credit: www.visitmaribor.si / Bernarda Karo
| Category: | Educational/Cultural |
| Best time of the year: | May-September |
| Duration: | 5 hours |
| Number of participants: | Max 4 so not to distress the bees in beehives |
| Location: | Maribor, Slovenia |
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