Celebrate Bee Day

Celebrating the first World Bee Day in Slovenia

Slovenia is preparing for the first celebration of World Bee Day with great enthusiasm. The preparations involve numerous organisers of events which will take place around 20 May at the national and international level:

These events are organised by the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, with assistance from other ministries and national bodies, the Slovenian Tourist Board and the Municipalities of Žirovnica and Ivančna Gorica.

The World Bee Day celebrations in Slovenia will also include numerous events throughout May, information on which is available on our website under the tab Events or on the website of the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association.

Let’s celebrate together, raise awareness and do something good for bees

The main purpose of the events is to spread awareness of the significance of bees and other pollinators for our survival. We must realise that simply proclaiming World Bee Day does not do much for bees and other pollinators; the main work aiming towards their preservation still needs to be undertaken and World Bee Day is an excellent opportunity in this regard. Beekeepers and nature conservationists would like to ask everybody to help improve the conditions for bees, thus improving conditions for the survival of people. No major steps are needed; what counts is each and every action that facilitates the existence of bees.

Kindergartens and schools can liaise with local beekeeping associations and organise a number of different activities:

• Visits to beekeepers to become acquainted with their work
• Learning about honey and hive products
• Learning about nectar-bearing plants
• Making and setting up a farm for bees and other pollinators in your home garden, yard, terrace, etc.
• Preparing a breakfast that contains honey and other hive products
• Organising art competitions on the topic of beekeeping and pollinators

 

Every individual can contribute to the preservation of bees and other pollinators:

• Plant nectar-bearing flowers for decorative purposes on balconies, terraces, and gardens.
• Buy honey and other hive products from your nearest local beekeeper.
• Raise awareness among children and adolescents on the importance of bees and express your support for beekeepers.
• Set up a pollinator farm on your balcony, terrace, or garden; you can either make it yourself or buy at any home furnishings store.
• Preserve old meadows – which feature a more diverse array of flowers – and sow nectar-bearing plants.
• Cut grass on meadows only after the nectar-bearing plants have finished blooming.
• Offer suitable farming locations for the temporary or permanent settlement of bees so that they have suitable pasture; as a consequence, they will pollinate our plants, which will thereby bear more fruit.
• Use pesticides that do not harm bees, and spray them in windless weather, either early in the morning or late at night, when bees withdraw from blossoms.
• Mulch blooming plants in orchards and vineyards before spraying them with pesticides so that they do not attract bees after being sprayed.