Beekeeping Education Centre of Gorenjska

Few countries are as devoted to bees as Slovenia. Beekeeping has been part of rural life here for centuries, the native Carniolan honey bee is prized around the world for its gentle temperament and hardiness, and Slovenian beekeepers painted the front boards of their hives with scenes and sayings that are now regarded as a form of folk art. In 2017 the United Nations adopted a Slovenian proposal to establish World Bee Day on 20 May, the birthday of Anton Janša, an eighteenth-century Slovenian pioneer of modern beekeeping. The Beekeeping Education Centre of Gorenjska, in the village of Lesce near Bled, is a place where that tradition is explained to visitors.

The centre is built around learning by seeing and doing. Its main feature is a traditional Slovenian apiary, where visitors can watch bees at work from a safe distance in the warmer months, and an observation hive that lets you look into the life of a colony through glass, seeing the queen, the workers and the combs. Exhibits show the stages of honey production, from the hive to the extractor to the jar, with equipment for bottling honey and making honeycomb, and the staff explain how beekeepers work through the year, what the bees need and how they communicate. Guided tours are available at set times, and it is worth checking the programme, since the centre is also a training venue for beekeepers and the schedule varies.

Tastings are a highlight. Honey varies a great deal depending on the flowers visited by the bees, and a tasting of several kinds, perhaps acacia, linden, chestnut and forest honey, shows differences in colour, aroma and flavour that surprise people who only know supermarket honey. The shop sells honey, beeswax products, candles, propolis and other products of the hive, many of them made locally, and the cafe offers a place to try honey-based treats. A seminar room allows the centre to host workshops and lectures for beekeepers and the public. The traditions of the beekeeping world include a patron saint, St. Ambrose, who is regarded as the protector of bees, and his statue and image appear in many beekeeping places.

The centre sits in a part of Gorenjska that has a number of related attractions. Gorenjka chocolate factory, Legatova hiša and Španova hiša are historic and cultural stops in Lesce, the Church of the Assumption of Mary is a pilgrimage church, the Lesce Alpine Sports Airfield is an aviation base, Šobec Campsite is a green spot on the Sava, and Bowling City Lesce offers an indoor activity. Radovljica's Museum of Apiculture is close, so a beekeeping tour can combine both.

It suits families, food lovers and anyone with an interest in nature. Allow an hour or two. Guests will leave with a new respect for bees. Open to families and groups, the centre reflects Slovenia’s pride in its bees.