Beekeeping Dolinšek

Beekeeping Dolinšek is a story of family tradition that began with love for bees and continues with the same dedication for more than half a century.

It all began in the late fifties of the last century, when my late father Anton Dolinšek, still as a child, first felt the fascination with bee work at his uncle's place in Gotna vas in Novo mesto. This childhood interest grew into a deep love that in 1972 led to the establishment of the first apiary at our house Na Tratah 25 in Novo mesto. We count this year as the beginning of beekeeping in our family.

In 1985, my father bought the first truck, a TAM 5000 brand, which he completely restored. Together with a welder, he constructed a superstructure for transporting bees, which was successfully tested at LPP in Ljubljana in 1986. That year – the year of my birth – my father took bees to acacia pasture in the Daruvar area in former Yugoslavia for the first time. At that time, our bees traveled throughout the former country – from acacia pasture, through amorpha at Lonjsko polje, to chestnut pasture at Petrova gora and forest pasture at Gorski Kotar.

I, Simon Dolinšek, first encountered bees as a four-year-old at Petrova Gora. From then on, I was present at every bee move, inspection and honey extraction. This work captivated me so much that in 2014 I took over the reins of our beekeeping. Since taking over, I have steadily expanded beekeeping every year. Today it includes 5 transport units with approximately 330 bee colonies, which allows me to engage in beekeeping professionally – I am completely dependent on bees, just as their successful survival depends on me.

We keep bees in AŽ hives (12+3s, 11+3s and three-story 10s), which enable honey production with lower moisture content compared to the LR hive system. This system is part of our commitment to quality and Slovenian beekeeping tradition.

Even as a child, my father taught me an important principle: if a young bee falls out of the comb, I always pick her up, because she doesn't know where to return. In the first part of her life, she doesn't leave the hive and hasn't oriented herself at the entrance yet. I still operate according to this principle today – despite a lot of work and hurry during the season, I still pick up every young bee that might fall out of the comb. This is our relationship with bees: caring, respectful, patient.

During winter, our apiaries are located in the Novo mesto area and wider surroundings. When nature awakens, our seasonal journey through Slovenia begins: acacia in Bizeljsko and Prekmurje, linden in the extensive linden stands in Ribnica, chestnut in Bela Krajina and Zgornja Besnica, and forest and fir pasture in the area of Dolenjske Toplice, Kočevski Rog, Mala Gora, Javorniki and Krim. We choose pasture locations according to weather conditions, flowering time and honey indicators. Because our bees are scattered across natural areas of Slovenia, they are not exposed to chemicals or industry.

The primary activity of our beekeeping is the production of varietal honey. You can get flower, acacia, linden, chestnut, forest and fir honey from us. In addition, we also produce beeswax and bee pollen. In spring we also have some reserve bee colonies for sale.

We monitor the quality of our honey by sending samples to Berlin, Germany, where they are carefully examined. We also participate in honey evaluations in Semič, where we have already received several awards. We are in the process of inclusion in the SMGO scheme – Slovenian Honey with Protected Geographical Indication.

During the season, from mid-March to September, I'm with the bees every day from early morning to late evening hours, often during moves even all night. The most beautiful part of beekeeping for me is spring bee inspections at acacia pasture, when under favorable weather conditions acacia gives good honey – then inspections are quick, bees are calm, and work flows like butter. Bees are my way of life. They're not just a business, they're part of our family tradition, our identity, our respect for nature.

We build personal relationships with our customers. To anyone interested in anything about bees and beekeeping, I'm happy to explain, show pictures and share my experiences. Many of our customers have been with us for more than 20 years – this is confirmation of the trust we strive to maintain from generation to generation.

Our plan for the future is to expand beekeeping further and offer our quality varietal honey to a larger number of customers throughout Slovenia. The number of hives increases every year, our commitment to quality remains unchanged.

Remember us for this: at Beekeeping Dolinšek, for more than 50 years, you can always get quality, varietal honey from our own production.