On 20 May we marked the first World Bee Day. At the occasion Ljubljana, the Most Bee-Friendly Municipality 2017, prepared numerous events underscoring the importance of bees in all our lives.

The United Nations declared 20May as World Bee Day on the initiative from Slovenia, celebrating the birthday of the pioneer of commercial beekeeping in our country, Anton Janša.

World Bee Day in Ljubljana

In honour of the first World Bee Day we prepared a diverse programme with our partners, so we can all learn even more about the bees with which we are living together in our beautiful city.

Bees in Ljubljana

Bees are our indispensable fellow travellers. Bee pollination provides us with food, while honey and other products strengthen our health. They are a crucial part of our city and their presence is evidence of the high quality of our environment. In the area of Ljubljana there are 350 beekeepers managing over 4,500 bee families.

Most of them are keeping bees in the countryside, spanning over as much as two thirds of the overall area of the City of Ljubljana. The number of beekeepers within the Ljubljana ring road is increasing. Lately we are witnessing the development of the so called urban beekeeping in this area. It is based on the urban greening movement, the healthy life style trend, the desire for self-sufficiency and full environmental integration, and raising social awareness about the importance of bees for preserving the ecosystem and for our survival.

One of Ljubljana’s pioneers in urban beekeeping is Franc Petrovčič who has been successfully keeping bees on the terrace of the cultural and congress centre Cankarjev dom and in BTC City Ljubljana for seven years already. There are more and more different institutions hosting bees, from the Španski borci Culture Centre in Moste to Hotel Park.

The world renowned architect Jože Plečnik lived in Trnovo where he had an apiary with five hives set up in the garden behind his house. When the Plečnik House opened its doors after 24 years it was revived.

Bee Path

In 2015, we designed the Bee Path in Ljubljana, now uniting as many as 35 partners from educational and cultural institutions, from health-care centres to economic entities and, of course, beekeepers and beekeeping societies. It is not just a path, it is a movement of like-minded people caring for the well-being of bees in the city with very diverse activities.

Within the scope of marking the World Bee Day the SKB bank and the inn Pri kolovratu joined the Bee Path.

SKB contributing to the preservation of bees

SKB d.d. Ljubljana is joining the urban beekeeping story with its project »SKB – with nature in the city« wishing to contribute to the preservation of bees and caring for their habitat. The Carniolan honey bees have joined them on the terrace of the SKB office building. With the assistance of the Botanic Gardens they planted the area around the urban hive with honey plants and gave the bees a home of the highest quality in the city environment. This way they marked 20 May, the day the United Nations declared as World Bee Day on the initiative of Slovenian beekeepers and the birthday of Anton Janša, the pioneer of contemporary beekeeping. More here.

Pri kolovratu creating traditional atmosphere

Pri kolovratu (Spinning Wheel), the oldest inn in the old part of Ljubljana, is embarking on the Bee Path with a new honey desert created together with young caterers from the Secondary School for Catering and Tourism in Ljubljana.

Bee Path an award-winning good practice case

Pursuing an innovative approach the City of Ljubljana is presenting great tourist potential, increasing recognisability of local providers and products in beekeeping, and introducing the Ljubljana honey as a recognisable and individual product.

In 2017 we took part in the URBACT competition, with almost 300 cities applied, and received the good practice case award for the Bee Path project.