7 ms·

Slovenia’s beautiful beehives turn apiaries into art

191 points by Thevet 3y ago

klelatti 3y ago
About twenty years ago I hosted a group of business visitors from Slovenia in the U.K. and was surprised to receive a beehive panel as a ‘thank you’ at the end of the meeting. It was a lovely gift and I still have the panel.
myshpa 3y ago
That eternit/asbestos roof in the first picture ... no, thank you. Another article about Slovenia's beekeepers: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/beekeeping-companies-colony-collapse.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/beekeeping-compa... “If you overcrowd any space with honey bees, there is a competition for natural resources, and since bees have the largest numbers, they push out other pollinators, which actually harms biodiversity,” he said, after a recent visit to the B&B bees. “I would say that the best thing you could do for honey bees right now is not take up beekeeping.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5 Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks ... results show that beekeeping reduces the diversity of wild pollinators and interaction links in the pollination networks ... High-density beekeeping in natural areas appears to have lasting, more serious negative impacts on biodiversity than was previously assumed. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.767950/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.76795... The Diversity Decline in Wild and Managed Honey Bee Populations Urges for an Integrated Conservation Approach Using honey bees as an example, we argue that several management practices in beekeeping threaten genetic diversity in both wild and managed populations, and drive population decline. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708548/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708548/ Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development Bees comprise ~ 20 000 described species across seven recognised families ... Fifty bee species are managed by people, of which around 12 are managed for crop pollination ... Wild bees contribute an average of USD$3 251 ha−1 to the production of insect-pollinated crops, similar to that provided by managed honey bees https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722319/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722319/ Do managed bees have negative effects on wild bees? The majority of reviewed studies reported negative effects of managed bees https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2021/June-July/Gardening/Honey-Bees https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2021/Ju... “Keeping honey bees to ‘save the bees’ is like raising chickens to save birds.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01847-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01847-3 Greater bee diversity is needed to maintain crop pollination over time
- kdmccormick 3y ago
  Not challenging your overall point, but your nwf link specifically calls out the introduction of extra non-native pollinators as a problem, and explains that honeybees were brought over from Europe and thereforr aren't native to North America. The original article is describing honeybeekeepers specifically in Slovenia.
  - myshpa 3y ago
    True ... but whether they are native or not, their effect on wild pollinators is the same.
    - antwerp1 3y ago
      The effect could be dampened by cultivating bee-friendly crops. Yes, it is a somewhat artificial system and will divert resources away from the natural system but perhaps it would create a boundary between the honeybees and native pollinators
  - nemo 3y ago
    Honeybees aren't native to Europe or the Americas, they originated in Asia. In any habitat at all, keeping honeybees is actually adding some strain to local ecosystems. Honeybees are voracious nectar drinkers, once they're hit a habitat it can support fewer native bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, etc.
    - Swizec 3y ago
      Were bees introduced into Europe from Asia? We have evidence of domesticated bees in Egypt circa 2600BC. Not to mention rock art of honey collection from bees dating back to 7000BC in Spain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Domestication https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Domesticat...
      - nemo 3y ago
        Yes, Humans have been keeping domesticate bees for a long time and spread them around the globe. The wild animal that was domesticate originally lived in Southeast Asia.
beardicus 3y ago
if you're into bees and visual stimulation, i collected a bunch of beehive art and beekeeping related art and design a few years back on tumblr: https://iseebees.tumblr.com https://iseebees.tumblr.com
sdfasdf321 3y ago
[flagged]
nlunbeck 3y ago
> You’ll go out and take care of the bees, have some bread and wine and cheese, and take a nap I visited an apiary in Slovenia a few years back, and they were testing out "bee therapy". There was a room with a bed next to the beehive wall, and visitors could pay to take a 90 min nap surrounded by buzzing bees. It was thought to provide relief for depression. Wish I had tried it, the buzzing echoed really nicely when you were inside.
- klysm 3y ago
  I have a visceral fear of that buzzing sound due to some unwanted encounters with wasps as a very young child. I suspect such an experience would induce incredible amounts of anxiety for me at least lol
  - xeonmc 3y ago
    Or if you've watched The Wicker Man
  - franga2000 3y ago
    I'm was in a similar situation and bees actually helped me get over it for the most part. I never did "bee therapy" specifically, but just by hanging out with people who keep bees got me used to the sound of a hive in the background. The sound of a single wasp around me still triggers that fear, but I can mostly tell the difference from the sound of a bee now. Unlike wasps, who I still believe are just evil bastards, Slovenian bees are very friendly and will even let you pick them up and pet them.
  - atoav 3y ago
    As a wasp allergic who grew up in a province filled with beekeepers: they sound nothing like each other. The sound of wasps compares to that of bees like the sound of a broken Vespa against a Harley Davidson. But maybe it is me being a professional in the audio-postproduction field.
    - hot_gril 3y ago
      I can tell the difference. Thing is, I've been attacked by both as a kid and have a fear of both. Too bad cause I think beekeeping is one of the coolest things. Vespa: pun intended?
shimonabi 3y ago
I think the most famous and my favourite is the one where the devil is sharpening a woman's tongue.
- pulse7 3y ago
  Here they are: - https://mojalbum.com/maroltm/zivali/hudic-jezik-brusi-panjska-koncnica/2380370/povecaj#!2380370 https://mojalbum.com/maroltm/zivali/hudic-jezik-brusi-panjsk... - https://www.logar-trade.si/panjska-koncnica---hudic-brusi-babji-jezik_333002.html https://www.logar-trade.si/panjska-koncnica---hudic-brusi-ba... - https://www.facebook.com/1439824226277202/photos/hudi%C4%8D-brusi-babi-jezik-oz-slovenska-ljudska-umetnost-na-panjskih-kon%C4%8Dnicah-komu-/1664637667129189/ https://www.facebook.com/1439824226277202/photos/hudi%C4%8D-...
helpfulContrib 3y ago
Ljubljana is a truly beautiful city, and I recently enjoyed touring its many interesting streets, noting the stark contrast between the older historical buildings, the soviet era, and the modern structures being placed, with quite some care it seems, for the aesthetics of the city. Almost everywhere you look, there is a whimsical beauty that seems so well placed. During this particular trip I noticed early on, the constant presence of bees .. whether it was a small swarm moving en masse across the sunny sky, or a small lane of bees flying above our heads as we walked through their flight corridors. It wasn't until later in the visit that I discovered that Ljubljana has a special relationship with bees, and in fact as a city has integrated beekeeping throughout the cities parks and public places. It truly felt like the bees were just normal denizens of the city going about their day - with things to do, places to be, just like the rest of us (although I was in tourist mode) .. and the cities many gardens and flower fields made a lot of sense as I learned that Slovenians have a lot of respect for these wonderful, delicate, super important creatures. If you get the chance to visit Llubljana, its an unsung gem of this part of Europe in my opinion. Be sure to learn about the Bee Path! https://www.ljubljana.si/en/ljubljana-for-you/environmental-protection/the-bee-path/ https://www.ljubljana.si/en/ljubljana-for-you/environmental-...
crymer11 3y ago
> Langstroth hive frames can weigh as much as 40 to 90 pounds and must be lifted up out of the hive. For anyone surprised or unfamiliar, that’s the weight of an entire box with 8-10 frames, not the weight of a single frame—while that’d be delightful in terms of honey production, it’d be miserable when doing hive checks, etc.

191 points by Thevet 3y ago

About twenty years ago I hosted a group of business visitors from Slovenia in the U.K. and was surprised to receive a beehive panel as a ‘thank you’ at the end of the meeting. It was a lovely gift and I still have the panel.

myshpa 3y ago

That eternit/asbestos roof in the first picture ... no, thank you. Another article about Slovenia's beekeepers: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/beekeeping-companies-colony-collapse.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/beekeeping-compa... “If you overcrowd any space with honey bees, there is a competition for natural resources, and since bees have the largest numbers, they push out other pollinators, which actually harms biodiversity,” he said, after a recent visit to the B&B bees. “I would say that the best thing you could do for honey bees right now is not take up beekeeping.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5 Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks ... results show that beekeeping reduces the diversity of wild pollinators and interaction links in the pollination networks ... High-density beekeeping in natural areas appears to have lasting, more serious negative impacts on biodiversity than was previously assumed. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.767950/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.76795... The Diversity Decline in Wild and Managed Honey Bee Populations Urges for an Integrated Conservation Approach Using honey bees as an example, we argue that several management practices in beekeeping threaten genetic diversity in both wild and managed populations, and drive population decline. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708548/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708548/ Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development Bees comprise ~ 20 000 described species across seven recognised families ... Fifty bee species are managed by people, of which around 12 are managed for crop pollination ... Wild bees contribute an average of USD$3 251 ha−1 to the production of insect-pollinated crops, similar to that provided by managed honey bees https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722319/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722319/ Do managed bees have negative effects on wild bees? The majority of reviewed studies reported negative effects of managed bees https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2021/June-July/Gardening/Honey-Bees https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2021/Ju... “Keeping honey bees to ‘save the bees’ is like raising chickens to save birds.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01847-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01847-3 Greater bee diversity is needed to maintain crop pollination over time

kdmccormick 3y ago
Not challenging your overall point, but your nwf link specifically calls out the introduction of extra non-native pollinators as a problem, and explains that honeybees were brought over from Europe and thereforr aren't native to North America. The original article is describing honeybeekeepers specifically in Slovenia.
- myshpa 3y ago
  True ... but whether they are native or not, their effect on wild pollinators is the same.
  - antwerp1 3y ago
    The effect could be dampened by cultivating bee-friendly crops. Yes, it is a somewhat artificial system and will divert resources away from the natural system but perhaps it would create a boundary between the honeybees and native pollinators
- nemo 3y ago
  Honeybees aren't native to Europe or the Americas, they originated in Asia. In any habitat at all, keeping honeybees is actually adding some strain to local ecosystems. Honeybees are voracious nectar drinkers, once they're hit a habitat it can support fewer native bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, etc.
  - Swizec 3y ago
    Were bees introduced into Europe from Asia? We have evidence of domesticated bees in Egypt circa 2600BC. Not to mention rock art of honey collection from bees dating back to 7000BC in Spain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Domestication https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Domesticat...
    - nemo 3y ago
      Yes, Humans have been keeping domesticate bees for a long time and spread them around the globe. The wild animal that was domesticate originally lived in Southeast Asia.

beardicus 3y ago

if you're into bees and visual stimulation, i collected a bunch of beehive art and beekeeping related art and design a few years back on tumblr: https://iseebees.tumblr.com https://iseebees.tumblr.com

sdfasdf321 3y ago

[flagged]

nlunbeck 3y ago

> You’ll go out and take care of the bees, have some bread and wine and cheese, and take a nap I visited an apiary in Slovenia a few years back, and they were testing out "bee therapy". There was a room with a bed next to the beehive wall, and visitors could pay to take a 90 min nap surrounded by buzzing bees. It was thought to provide relief for depression. Wish I had tried it, the buzzing echoed really nicely when you were inside.

klysm 3y ago
I have a visceral fear of that buzzing sound due to some unwanted encounters with wasps as a very young child. I suspect such an experience would induce incredible amounts of anxiety for me at least lol
- xeonmc 3y ago
  Or if you've watched The Wicker Man
- franga2000 3y ago
  I'm was in a similar situation and bees actually helped me get over it for the most part. I never did "bee therapy" specifically, but just by hanging out with people who keep bees got me used to the sound of a hive in the background. The sound of a single wasp around me still triggers that fear, but I can mostly tell the difference from the sound of a bee now. Unlike wasps, who I still believe are just evil bastards, Slovenian bees are very friendly and will even let you pick them up and pet them.
- atoav 3y ago
  As a wasp allergic who grew up in a province filled with beekeepers: they sound nothing like each other. The sound of wasps compares to that of bees like the sound of a broken Vespa against a Harley Davidson. But maybe it is me being a professional in the audio-postproduction field.
  - hot_gril 3y ago
    I can tell the difference. Thing is, I've been attacked by both as a kid and have a fear of both. Too bad cause I think beekeeping is one of the coolest things. Vespa: pun intended?

shimonabi 3y ago

I think the most famous and my favourite is the one where the devil is sharpening a woman's tongue.

pulse7 3y ago
Here they are: - https://mojalbum.com/maroltm/zivali/hudic-jezik-brusi-panjska-koncnica/2380370/povecaj#!2380370 https://mojalbum.com/maroltm/zivali/hudic-jezik-brusi-panjsk... - https://www.logar-trade.si/panjska-koncnica---hudic-brusi-babji-jezik_333002.html https://www.logar-trade.si/panjska-koncnica---hudic-brusi-ba... - https://www.facebook.com/1439824226277202/photos/hudi%C4%8D-brusi-babi-jezik-oz-slovenska-ljudska-umetnost-na-panjskih-kon%C4%8Dnicah-komu-/1664637667129189/ https://www.facebook.com/1439824226277202/photos/hudi%C4%8D-...

helpfulContrib 3y ago

Ljubljana is a truly beautiful city, and I recently enjoyed touring its many interesting streets, noting the stark contrast between the older historical buildings, the soviet era, and the modern structures being placed, with quite some care it seems, for the aesthetics of the city. Almost everywhere you look, there is a whimsical beauty that seems so well placed. During this particular trip I noticed early on, the constant presence of bees .. whether it was a small swarm moving en masse across the sunny sky, or a small lane of bees flying above our heads as we walked through their flight corridors. It wasn't until later in the visit that I discovered that Ljubljana has a special relationship with bees, and in fact as a city has integrated beekeeping throughout the cities parks and public places. It truly felt like the bees were just normal denizens of the city going about their day - with things to do, places to be, just like the rest of us (although I was in tourist mode) .. and the cities many gardens and flower fields made a lot of sense as I learned that Slovenians have a lot of respect for these wonderful, delicate, super important creatures. If you get the chance to visit Llubljana, its an unsung gem of this part of Europe in my opinion. Be sure to learn about the Bee Path! https://www.ljubljana.si/en/ljubljana-for-you/environmental-protection/the-bee-path/ https://www.ljubljana.si/en/ljubljana-for-you/environmental-...

crymer11 3y ago

> Langstroth hive frames can weigh as much as 40 to 90 pounds and must be lifted up out of the hive. For anyone surprised or unfamiliar, that’s the weight of an entire box with 8-10 frames, not the weight of a single frame—while that’d be delightful in terms of honey production, it’d be miserable when doing hive checks, etc.