I am one of the few beekeepers that can boast long-term membership in the Lendava Beekeepers’ Association. The first records of our association date back more than 80 years. I use AŽ hives exclusively. My bee farm is located in Dolga Vas, between Lendava and the Hungarian border, directly under the Dolga Vas–Lendava Hills and in the heartland of beautiful forests where forage is abundant from spring to late fall (we have had yields of 60 kg per hive). I have been keeping bees since 1985. In the last couple of years I have maintained 95 to 100 productive colonies, 54 of which I transport to forest foraging grounds. I started rearing queens in 1988 with swarm cells in polystyrene foam flowerpots.
Increases in the number of productive colonies led to the need for more quality queens as well, so I started rearing more queens.
Over the years, I have gained valuable experience and used it to improve my rearing technology. I have designed a mating nuc that I market as the Pomurski plemenilnik (Pomurje nuc). I obtain breeding stock from selected colonies and mature queen cells in an incubator; in addition, I have improved the technique of introducing ripe queen cells and begun rearing queens under the supervision of the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia. I rear queens in nucs the size of one AŽ frame. The queen therefore has a large amount of space for laying eggs, despite the large number of bees. To ensure her quality, it is important for the young queen to have sufficient food and warmth directly before hatching and in the first couple of days afterwards. The mating station is located in an abandoned claypit along the main road between Lendava and Dolga Vas. The drone congregating area is right nearby, so the queens return from their nuptial flights after 3 to 5 minutes.
The percentage of mated queens is a staggering 90 to 95%.
You can purchase high-value queens from the beginning of May (depending on the weather) until late fall.
Our motto: Quality and honesty ensure success and satisfaction.
Beekeeping is the poetry of agriculture and queen rearing is the poetry of beekeeping.
We look forward to welcoming you to our breeding station.