LAKE BLED - Croatia and Slovenia - page 924

Replicas of those characteristic beehive panels are available at shops in Bled and
Ljubljana and make for appealing souvenirs. Basic reproductions of the beehive pan-
els cost around €12-15, while better-quality, hand-painted ones run €20-30 or more.
When perusing your options, it helps to know the stories behind each one (see here
for a run-down on some of the designs).
The other apian souvenir is honey. In 2013, Slovenian honey was designated as a
unique product by the European Union—a certification that means only honey pro-
duced in a certain place and way can carry that name. Taste can differ tremendously
from hive to hive, as the specific flowers and blossoms that bees gather pollen from
largely determine the flavor of the honey. Ideally find a shop that will let you sample
several. In general, honeys made from mixed flowers and linden blossoms (which
tend to be cloudy from a natural crystallization process) have the sweetest, mildest
flavor;thosemadefromchestnutorpinetreescanhaveabitteraftertaste.Thehoneys
that appear creamy areinfusedwithflavorsandaremostofteneaten onbreadorpan-
cakes; plain honey is more versatile.
Besideshoney,beekeepersalsomakemoneybyraisingnewqueenbees.Eachhive
has one, and they can't be bred—one of the larvae is simply fed special “royal jelly”
that encourages her to become a leader. In the springtime, when bees are born, the
beekeeper keeps a close eye on the hive to figure out whether there are any potential
queens about to emerge, then moves the old queen, whobrings half the hive with her,
to a new home (before she can find one on her own).
Slovenes still reserve an importance and affection for bees that's rare in modern
times. For example, the Slovene language has two different words for “to give birth”
and “to die”: One they use exclusively for humans and bees, and a different one for
all other animals. If a beekeeper dies, it's believed (with some pretty incontrovertible
evidence) that the new beekeeper must formally “introduce” himself to the hive by
going there and explaining to the bees what has happened; otherwise, they become
confused and agitated, and often die themselves.
To learn more about Slovenian beekeeping, visit the insightful Apicultural Mu-
seum in Radovljica. For an even more vivid, practical experience, call Blaž at Kralov
Med near Bled for a demonstration (see here ) . At either place, you'll get a sense for
just how proud Slovenes are of their bees.
The third room features the museum's highlight: whimsically painted beehive front-
boards(called panjske kon č nice ).Beekeepers,believingthesepaintingswouldhelpthebees
find their way home, developed a tradition of decorating their hives with religious, historic-