Museum of Apiculture, Radovljica

Contact

Čebelarski muzej Radovljica

Linhartov trg 1, SI-4240 Radovljica

http://mro.si/muzeji-in-zbirke/cebelarski-muzej/

cebelarski.muzej@mro.si

Phone386 (0) 4 532 0520

Managed byRadovljica Municipality Museums

Tita Porenta, Curator

Phone386 (0) 4 532 0527

The Museum of Apiculture, Radovljica, located in the Baroque Radovljica Mansion in the historic centre of Radovljica (together with the Municipal Museum of Radovljica), was founded in 1959 by the executive committee of the Beekeepers' Association of Slovenia in response to an appeal in the journal Slovenski čebelar (Slovene Beekeeper) to collect more material on the ancient practice of beekeeping. The museum was incorporated into the Radovljica Municipality Museums in 1963, thoroughly renovated in 1973, and again from 1996 to 2000.

The bust of Anton Janša (1734-1773), the beekeeping mentor, at the Museum of Apiculture, Radovljica

Background

The Radovljica Mansion was rebuilt in Baroque style by the Counts of Thurn-Valsassina, who owned the manor in the period 1618–1840. The façade of the building is richly stuccoed, and the south-western portal is accentuated with strongly schematised busts of the count's family. Some sections of the adjacent French-modelled Baroque park (once known to locals as "paradise") which once belonged to the manor have been preserved.

Programme

The museum displays the rich tradition of Slovene apiculture or beekeeping which was an important branch of agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries. The technical section of the museum shows the most typical habitats of bees and apicultural tools, the biological room highlights the life and work of the autochthonous bee "kranjska sivka" (apis mellifera carnica), the art exhibition features the unique Slovene folk art of painted beehive front boards. A copy of the apiary of the famous beekeeper Anton Janša (1734–1773) has been installed in nearby Breznica.

Besides the permanent exhibition on Slovene apiculture, there are also workshops and temporary exhibitions organised by the museum such as the 2009 exhibitions on 50 Years of the Museum (Čebelarski muzej 1959–2009) and Beekeeping in Gorenjska and Dolenjska region, co-organised with the Dolenjska Museum Novo mesto. The travelling exhibition of beehive front boards, arranged in 1978 and revised in 2001, hosts at home and abroad (for example, in 2008 in Brussels).

See also

• Radovljica Municipality Museums
• Apiculture Museum Krapje

External links

• Museum of Apiculture, Radovljica web pages
• Beekeeping in Slovenia - in Sinfo Magazine
• Virtual collection of folk art painted beehive front boards
• Article about the bee-tourism in Slovenia - from the Guardian Newspaper

Gallery

The bust of Anton Janša (1734-1773), the beekeeping mentor, at the Museum of Apiculture, Radovljica