From Thursday, May 28 to Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Slovenian language classes in Banja Luka and Slatina, various workshops were held related to World Bee Day, which is celebrated every year on May 20.
We also invited the television crew of the Little Europe show to the Thursday class, which was intended for the adult students. For this purpose, skilled cooks Olga S. and Dubravka prepared delicious gingerbread cookies, along with various side dishes on the set table, including juicy skewers with seasonal fruit. The school lessons were held on the topic of bees, beekeeping and bee products. We read out loud the most interesting facts about these mysterious, valuable insects that live in one of the most orderly systems on our planet. We commented on what we read and expanded our own knowledge about bees. I also prepared a selection of proverbs and sayings and all kinds of folk wisdom about bees, which we also analyzed in detail. In order to successfully assimilate new knowledge, at the end we solved a quiz about bees, which I prepared as a summary of everything we read previously. Along with the products of the worker bees, including fruit, which would not exist without bee pollination, we chatted late into the night about everything related to these tiny insects. On Friday, I slightly adapted the material about bees in Slatina to the age groups of the students. We learned the Slovenian names associated with bees: bee, queen, drone, honeycomb, beehive, apiary, pollen, beekeeper, honey, royal jelly, propolis, wax... We colored motifs related to the topic and learned a short folk song Bee in flight. We also ate gingerbread.
On Saturday, I also adapted the material for all four groups that have classes according to the schedule. Of course, Olga and Dubravka baked so many gingerbread cookies that we ate them on the third day. Many students are quite familiar with the mysterious world, life and work of bees, so our lesson on the topic of bees was a repetition of already known facts with the addition of new ones.
For those who weren't there, here are some interesting facts about bees:
- there are about 20,000 species of bees in the world
- most bees live in the ground
- the life span of bees is about 40 days
- the indigenous Slovenian bee, the Carniolan honey bee, is considered one of the best honey bees, which is why it has spread to other parts of the world
- a bee contributes 1/12 teaspoon of honey in its short life
- if bees become extinct, it will consequently mean the end of mankind
- May 20th is the birthday of the pioneer of modern beekeeping, the Slovenian Anton Janša, who, at the invitation of Empress Maria Theresa, ran the first beekeeping school in the world in Vienna.
And some more real life proverbs and wise thoughts about bees and people:
What stings are to bees, tongues are to humans.
Be as diligent as a bee.
Words are like bees, they have honey and stings.
Who knows how to deal with bees, should not be afraid of their sting.
When I look at your work, I am ashamed of my laziness.
If you want to pour honey, don't hit the hives.
She smears honey on the front, shows the fig on the back.
Too much nectar becomes poison.
Metoda Perger
