Our beautiful Slovenian saying states that you can’t choose your father or your
mother however, you can choose your mother-in-law and father-in-law. This is
where I have had luck as Martin Adlešič is one of the biggest and most innovative
beekeepers from Bela krajina who has been beekeeping already for many years
with over 100 stacked-up beehives in two transportable units. Besides this
he is a also a beekeeping innovator who makes all his hives at home along with
any improvements.
My Father-in-Law’s Transportable Apiary
Love, wanted me to marry his daughter (his only child) and as “the beekeeper’s
daughter” for the dowry she received 30 bee families in stacked-up hives and
I received magazines called “The Slovenian Beekeeper” from 1970 onwards for studying
beekeeping. Therefore, in 1989 this is how my beekeeping adventure had started
and I hope it will last for many years. As the right husband and “householder”
I took the animals into my care, which turned out to be a bad decision as these
animals “stung” really bad. As a preventative measure I started carrying a bigger
picture of me so that at least the people close to me could recognize me.
My First Stand
The first days of my beekeeping career were difficult as I didn’t have any experience
and differentiating between the drone and queen bee was problematic. There were
no problems after we coloured the queen bee. Thank God that my father-in-law
always stood by my side with nerves of steel and good advice along with my wife
Greta who had the medication to relieve the swelling from the bee stings.
Bees in Action
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Son’s help
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Under my father-in-law’s tactics I slowly gained experience and slowly began
to understand the organisation and life of the bees. I already achieved some
nice results in the first few years, which gave me added momentum and will-power.
I will never forget July 1991 when as a soldier I defended the southern border
of Slovenia and the bees were working like crazy. At that time they produced
6 kg per family in one day. In short, I gained experience and knowledge throughout
the years with the help of my father-in-law and mentor Martin Adlešič.
Therefore
now, I can say I am an old pro in beekeeping with LR beehives. I have come to
realise the golden rule in beekeeping which states that there are no rules when
it comes to bees.
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