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We breed carniolan honey bees (Apis mellifera carnica), an indigenous species in this region. Queens are regularly being sent to European countries. They are also present on other continents. 
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The carniolan honey bee is recognised by its extreme steadiness. It has great orientation capabilities and quickly adapts to changes in the environment. It stops breeding in the winter period to use less food and save energy, which is then abundantly used in spring when it develops quickly and strongly.
Queens are available from the end of May until late autumn.
The selection of our queens is based on honey profitability, cleaning behaveour, breed purity and steadiness on honeycomb. 
All our queens are randomly mated and marked.
Queen breeding is monitored by the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia.

Queens are available from the
end of May until late autumn.

About us

We breed carniolan honey bees, an indigenous species in this region. We have been breeding them since 1934, and have been sending queens regularly to European countries. Our queens are present on other continents as well.
The quality of our queens has been confirmed by numerous clients who are returning to us regularly. The breeding of queens is monitored by the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, and the selection is based on verifying cleansing capabilities, honey profitability, swarming mood and breed purity. We have received numerous awards for our work which commit us to continue working dilligently in the future.
Before World War 2, our queens had been reaching British colonies through Mr. Strgar. The next milestone was selling queens to China and Argentina. In all periods, we have been selling queens to European countries, which is still our largest market. We are especially proud of queens bought from us by brother Adam Kehrle. He needed them to breed the buckfast bee.

The selection of our queens is based
on honey profitability, 
cleaning behaveour, breed purity
and steadiness on honeycomb.

History

In 1931, then 15-year old Alojz Bukovšek Sr. began with bee-keeping. He built a bee-house for 27 beehives which is still used today. In 1934, he additionally increased the bee-house by another 45 beehives.
That year he also built the first 40 mating hives and began breeding queens in the spring for sale. Later he increased breeding and sold queens to Egypt through Jan Strgar together with bee colonies. The last queens departed each year in September. Sales to Egypt and other English colonies went well until the beginning of World War 2.
Selection work was one of the foundations of our work from the beginning. In 1967, queens of the carniolan honey bee were tested in Germany and Austria. Samples from Austria, several other countries and Bukovšek's samples from Slovenia were tested. Both testings showed that Bukovšek's and Austrian queens were comparable, while other breeds were significantly weaker. Because of good results, Alojz Bukovšek Jr. was invited to provide training to institutes of apiculture in Neustadt and in Mayen, Germany. Janko and Štefan Bukovšek, the third generation of bee-keepers, continue to breed queens today.

All our queens are randomly
mated and marked.

    Contact us
Vzrejališče Bukovšek
Si - Golo Brdo 19
1215 Medvode
Slovenia

Phone
+ 386 1 361 24 28

Email
info@bukovsek.com
Webdesign: www.splet99.net
 
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Breeders since 1934