THE BEEVERLY HILLS HOTEL
- b@pualanibeefarm
- Jul 7
- 9 min read
An Odyssey
Throughout my life, I have lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Europe but I had never visited the picturesque country of Slovenia, known for its long and industrious history of beekeeping. In the summer of 2024, while working in Germany, I took a weekend trip to the alpine town of Bled to learn about a Slovenian beekeeping system. My bee-inspired voyage landed me in the outskirts of the rural village of Selo pri Bledu, the site of an apiary called Kralov Med.
I was immediately mesmerized by the apiary’s breathtaking setting in the foothills of the rugged Julian Alps, which were dotted with remnant patches of winter snow and deep emerald-colored glacial lakes. The colorful bee houses, aromatic beds of wildflowers, and verdant grass fields at Kralov Med provided an idyllic retreat from my busy German work schedule in the Bavarian city of Munich.
Blaž Ambrožič, co-owner and knowledgeable beekeeper of Kralov Med, welcomed me to his award-winning apiary. He spent hours showing me a variety of Slovenian bee houses as well as demonstration hives, all the while explaining the basics of local methods of beekeeping. Blaž graciously invited me to return the next morning to assist him so that I could gain first-hand experience working with Slovenian hives. Once gloved and elbow-deep in Carniolan honeybees, I was easily convinced to transition away from the American hive system at Pualani Bee Farm to the Slovenian method.
AN AMERICAN SYSTEM: LANGSTROTH HIVES
Like most American apiaries, Pualani Bee Farm has been using a beekeeping system developed by Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth (1810–1895) in the mid-19th century. A native of Philadelphia, Langstroth helped industrialize beekeeping through numerous discoveries, such as his astute observation of the mathematical precision that honeybees use to build negative spaces, measuring between 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 inches, into the comb structures of their hives. The honeybees’ incorporation of these comb and propolis-free gaps, called bee space, allow for their easy movement around the complex internal architecture of the wax combs made up of hexagon-shaped cells.
Taking the mathematical precision of bee space into consideration, Langstroth developed a system of keeping managed honeybees in a vertical tower of stacked wooden boxes housing a single colony. Each box contains a series of hanging frames designed specifically with the correct “bee space” to allow worker bees to move easily between frames and levels. Unlike earlier versions of managed bee housings, such as hollow logs or skeps (domed straw or wicker woven baskets), Langstroth hives allowed beekeepers to work their honeybee colonies without seriously damaging or destroying the internal comb structure. Depending on the season and hive population, beekeepers can expand the number of these brood and honey boxes upward as needed without destroying the hive.
As I have learned over the past 6 years of beekeeping at Pualani Bee Farm, for all its mathematical genius, the Langstroth hive system poses some physical challenges to the aging beekeeper as well as to bees living in unpredictable weather conditions. For the beekeeper, the Langstroth hive system necessitates the lifting off and on of the stacked box(es) from the top downward to inspect the lowermost box(es) of brood or the uppermost box(es) when harvesting honey. These wooden boxes can weigh upwards of 60 lbs. when full! Older beekeepers often have back, shoulder and neck damage from too much bending over the hives and heavy lifting of the stacked boxes. Furthermore, to do beekeeping work with an open Langstroth hive, the weather must be just right—not rainy, not too cold, and not too hot. Bees work especially hard to maintain the ideal internal conditions needed for a healthy brood and strong colony population, including a consistent temperature of 94-96 degrees Fahrenheit; proper ventilation and air circulation to prevent excessive moisture buildup; and a steady level of relative humidity, generally 50-60%. When lifting the top off a Langstroth tower, the hive’s exposure to external weather conditions can quickly impact the very controlled and balanced interior microclimate and cause temperature and humidity shock to the bees, which they have to work very hard for days to re-establish.
A SLOVENIAN ALTERNATIVE: THE AŽ HIVE
At the turn of the 19th century, Anton Žnideršič (1874-1947), a Slovenian large-scale beekeeper, was inspired by a famous German beekeeper, Adolf Alberti, to design a different yet comparable hive system using the same calculations of “bee space” as in the Langstroth hive but based on a longitudinal concept. Žnideršič’s design, named the Alberti-Žnideršič hive, or more popularly the AŽ hive system, is widely used in rural Slovenia and throughout eastern Europe, where colorful bee houses containing AŽ hives dot meadows, fields, and farmyards. Unlike the open-air Langstroth hive, the AŽ hives are composed of large cabinet-style boxes placed inside bee houses with large overhanging roofs that shield the hives from harsh weather and excessive moisture, with each “cabinet” box
accommodating a completely independent honeybee colony. These are lined up, one next to and on top of another, like multi-level kitchen cabinets. Inside the AŽ hive “cabinet,” two or three divided shelf-like chambers house horizontally aligned frames for the brood and honey. When inspecting the hive for its queen, brood, or honey reserves, the beekeeper pulls individual frames in and out of each chamber—like books on a shelf. When full, each frame weighs only about 10 lbs. Hence, the AŽ system does not require heavy lifting! Since each chamber has its an intermediary screened window at the back, the beekeeper can also quickly check on the hive’s interior status without disturbing the whole colony. A solid kitchen cabinet-like door further insulates, darkens, and closes off the hive interior from the rest of the area inside the bee house. The closed bodies of these wall-to-wall hives create a bee-free zone inside the bee house, which beekeepers can use as production centers, rooms for quiet contemplation, apitherapy, or even for human accommodations.
In the AŽ hive system, the boxes’ front façades have landing boards and slit entrances for the field bees to fly into and out of their hives. Slovenian beekeepers paint these exterior hive walls, traditionally with colorful folkloric, biblical, or whimsical themes, but today anything goes! The painted designs and colors on this exterior wall help protect the exposed wood from the elements while also assisting the incoming field bees in identifying their colony’s entrance from their neighbors.
Living within these protected AŽ bee houses and hives, honeybees are less burdened by external weather conditions. The bee house can also be climate controlled, if needed or desired, making it easier for colonies to maintain interior hive conditions than in the open-air setting of Langstroth hives. Moreover, bee colonies kept in the AŽ hives are known to produce more and better-quality honey (with about 2% less water content), all the while allowing the bees to carry on with their daily tasks unperturbed by the beekeeper’s tasks.
The Slovenian AŽ bee house and hive system is not only more sensitive to the work and life woes of our little fuzzy friends but is also more user-friendly for the beekeeper. With this system, the beekeeper can access the indoor bee hives in any weather condition and at any time of the year, unlike the outdoor Langstroth system, which is especially vulnerable to the weather. Since the beekeeper works the hive from the back of the “cabinet” chambers (versus opening and exposing the top of the hive box in the Langstroth method), the colony is much less disrupted by extreme changes in light, temperature, and humidity as in the Langstroth system. Therefore, the bees are much less likely to get aggravated by the beekeeper’s activities, meaning fewer stings! Since the hive “cabinets” sit on a low platform and are stacked toward the ceiling of the bee house, the beekeeper can sit on a stool to work the lower hives and stand upright while working the upper hives. No more backbreaking bending over hives!
THE CONVERSION
Oddly enough, there is an interesting correlation between beekeeping in Slovenia and Hawaii. Slovenia is considered the original home to the Carniolan subspecies of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera carnica). These eastern European honeybees are known to have a gentle temperament (for the beekeeper: less risk of stings). Beekeepers also prefer Carniolan bees for their adaptability to different climates and environmental conditions, making them suitable for a multitude of regions, especially those with unpredictable weather. These honeybees are also proficient foragers of pollen and nectar (due in part to their great sense of orientation), even on cooler and overcast days and for longer hours during the day. Therefore, they produce greater amounts of honey than many other subspecies.
For these and many other reasons, beekeepers and apiaries around the world have imported the Carniolan honeybee as one of the most preferred subspecies. Without indigenous honeybees, Hawaii began importing the Western honeybee to the islands between the mid and late 19th century, including German black honeybees, Italian honeybees, and—believe it or not—Carniolan honeybees! However, Hawaii banned the importation of honeybees to the islands in 1908, due to the unintended consequences of also importing devastating diseases. Hence, all honeybees in Hawaii today are genetically linked to these first imports of the European subspecies, including the Carniolan bees that originated from Slovenia. At Pualani Bee Farm, our colonies are a mix between the Italian and Carniolan subspecies; so, we believe that with their Carniolan heritage, they will feel right at home in a Slovenian AŽ bee house!
Although the tropical climate in Hawaii is very different from the cold winters of eastern Europe, where the Slovenian system was conceived, at Pualani Bee Farm, we often experience unpredictable weather extremes that can make life for our bees harder than it needs to be. In Hawaii’s hot and drier season (April-October), the interior of the exposed wooden boxes of the open-air Langstroth system can quickly overheat the hive, forcing worker bees to exit the hive to perch on the exterior walls and landing board, vigorously fanning their wings to increase air flow and reduce the internal temperature. On the other hand, Hawaii’s rainy season (November-March) can produce weeks or even months of torrential rains. During these wet winters, the bees struggle to maintain the internal humidity levels they need and are forced to work extra hard to reduce the water content of their honey reserves to the ideal 17-19%.
The protective nature of the AŽ system and the beekeeper-friendly setup ultimately convinced me to convert my defunct pottery studio on a breeze-blessed hilltop into a bee house. We began this work in the spring of 2024, first enclosing the existing studio lanai (patio) with walls and a generously overhanging roof. We left two large openings at the front for the lanai for the later placement of AŽ hives. The interior space of the studio became a production center, where we can extract, jar, and store the honey; clean, freeze, and store bee pollen; render beeswax; and make our aromatherapy products—all just a few steps away from the hives. A glass and screen patio door separates the production center from our bee house, which we have named the “Beeverly Hills Hotel.” Visitors can sit for honey samplings inside the production center while directly experiencing the synergistic flow of the bees at work—without donning a sweltering bee suit!
To date, we have relocated five of our Langstroth hive stacks into the new AŽ hives into the luxurious Beeverly Hills Hotel, a bees-only accommodation for our precious Hawaiian-born fuzzy friends . Except for the original AŽ hive box that I brought from Kralov Med in Slovenia, the remaining 11 AŽ hive boxes were built locally in Volcano by our beehive host and woodworker, Jim Algeo. With this exciting new transition, we hope that our bees will enjoy life in their very own Beverly Hills Hotel overlooking the property from a tree-lined hilltop, sipping sweet wildflower nectar while tropical ocean breezes gently blow across their fuzzy forms. We also welcome visitors to come to the farm to enjoy a honey sampling, as well as a “cuppa" tea with honey and "beescuits” and to meet and greet the honeybees at Pualani Bee Farm. Just call, text or email us for an appointment!
SUPPORT FOR THIS BEE PROJECT
In 2024, Pualani Bee Farm received a grant from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to expand our bee pollen collection capacity, thereby better helping local food markets alleviate food insecurity in this part of the island. Funding from the DOA grant has literally put a roof over the “Beeverly Hills Hotel’” to better protect our bees and to help defray the costs of building bee pollen traps specifically designed for our new AŽ hives. The Hawaii DOA grant funding represents only a small portion of the investment in our Slovenian-inspired project. For the most part, it has been made possible by you: our friends, family, and devoted Pualani Bee Farm customers, whose purchases of our honey and hive products help us to improve the well-being of our precious little honeybees. For this, mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) for your support of our bees!
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