Today we head to the Cable car that will take us to the top of Vogel Mount which is a mile high. When we get to the top some are hiking up to the very top and others are taking the chair lift. My traveling buddy Ellen, is taking the chair with her friend from home that is visiting us. I choose the chair lift as it is getting hot and there is no shade. But at the top you can climb some more to a cross and ring the bell which I did.
Lunch and beer at the hut up there and down we go. I choose to get dropped off in town and do a little wading in the water and shopping. Got a mountain rescue shirt (proceeds goes to mountain rescues) and Katia gets new hiking shoes and throws the others away!
Off to the bee keeper which was fascinating. David grew up with bees so I knew a little but this bee keeper had lots of information which i will rite about below.
The bee keeper has about 220 bee boxes. There are approximately 1 bee keeper to every 200 people in Slovenia which is a country of 2 million people. This bee keeper has painted her boxes but the bees usually see only a blue. Each hive has a queen bee which lays 2,000 eggs a day which is fertilized by the drones. She lives to about 6 years. The drones (they do no work) live from 1 week to -2 months. While the worker bees lives only 2-6 months as they are working 24/7.
She told us that the bees communicate by buzzing in a figure 8 and that points the direction that the bee can find the pollen for the morning and depending how fast they flap their wings is too how far away it is. If it flaps slowly it is 1 cm away and if they flap faster, it’s 5cm away.
We have learned a lot from the bee keeper. Some facts. If all the bees die we will all be dead in 4 years. The bees go back to the ancient time showing us how to mummify things. When you buy pure honey it will crystalize in about a year but that is ok. Honey never goes bad and the prosperities are very beneficial. Never put honey into boiling water. Let your liquid cool a little. (Changes the properties of it) When eating honey don’t drink anything for several minutes so the honey will go into your lymph nodes and not down your stomach. Use honey to cover a wound and then cover with gauze.
To make it soft from crystallized honey- place in warm water..never the microwave. Another fact is : they are trying to get farmers to wait on the first cutting of the hay so they bees have time to work. This is true all over the world. These guys are so important. Oh and when you get stung , brush off the bee quickly and the stinger should go.
Our bus driver and his family
Cows coming down from the mountains
Up the mountain if the cable car from Mount Vogel
He is loving my patting
Looking down half way. Over the edge is the rest of the bottom
At the top of the cross
Climbed up here to run the bell and make my wish
Cathy feeding the animals
Lunch
Katia throwing away her sneakers
On our walk around town
Our boat that took us across the lake
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Bee keeper
We are suiting up
The hives
She paints each box
Talking about the colors the bee sees
The old bee nest that stays in the tree
This is a enemy of the bee they take the organs out first just like the mummifying the ancients.
And we say good bye to Katia and celebrate Elllie’s 20 years of service of touring.
These two pictures belong up above but here they are…….
