Nearly 300 years ago, an apiary stood in the idyllic village of Breznica. From an early age, Anton Janša used to open the hives where he observed the life of bees and helped his father in beekeeping. His family has always been involved in beekeeping, but there is no written information about previous apiaries. The first was erected in Breznica by Janša’s father Matija as early as 1734, in the year of the birth of his first son Anton.
Today Janša’s apiary is a wooden structure, covered with straw roof, with plenty of space inside for cleaning and maintaining the traditional Carniolan beehives, the speciality of which are the unique hand-painted front panels. It is a reconstruction of the apiary, which stood next to Kuhar’s house, as Janša’s homestead is called. His birth house is not preserved, the apiary in which the master kept his bees stood until 1877 when a new one of the same size was erected in the same place.
Content at Janša’s Apiary
- getting to know the heritage of Anton Janša – the pioneer of modern beekeeping and the first royally appointed beekeeping teacher for all Austrian lands at the imperial court in Vienna,
- a tour of memorial apiary; a reconstruction of a traditional Slovenian apiary from the 18th century,
- discovering unique Slovenian traditional painted beehive panelswhich are a speciality of Slovenian folklore, displaying religious and historic motifs as well as stories from daily life,
- In 2018 United Nations declared Anton Janša’s birthday, 20th May as the World Bee Day,
- one of the attractions along the Žirovnica Path of Cultural Heritage.
Location
Janša’s Apiary is located in Breznica, near the Mercator shop (Breznica 6a, 4274 Žirovnica).
Price list
The apiary is freely accessible, admission free. Guided tours and tasting of local honey products are available by arrangement.
Price of guided tour (30 min): €60.00
Contact
The Žirovnica Institute for Tourism and Culture
t +386 4 580 2092
e info@visitzirovnica.si
w visitzirovnica.si
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