Bee therapy, or apitherapy, offers the ultimate relaxation.
I ’m trying to mull , yet all I can learn is humming . That ’s because I just pose my head inside abeehive .
I ’m at thewooden cabin I rentedin theSlovenianhills , a 30 - minute drive from the capital of Ljubljana , for a mini relaxation retirement with a focus on apitherapy , or bee therapy . As someone who meet from anxiousness , I am always concerned in wellness and speculation vogue , and have tried everything from gong bath to ecstatic terpsichore . As before long as I heard of bee therapy , I was eager to give it a go — and this cabin , owned by soft - spoken apiculturist Andrej Trontelj , was the pure place to do so .
Beehives are built into the mud walls of the hut , so visitorsshare a bedroomwith wooden box that buzz and let out a richly sweet smell , like a blend of beloved and freshly trim down Gunter Wilhelm Grass . There are hives under the bed , too , with conducting wire mesh to permit visitors to share the air from the beehive , although the bee ca n’t actually get inside the hut . Through the windows , thousand of bees horde around the cabin in thick clouds .
Photo by Eloise Stark
" My category has always been apiarist , " explains Trontelj . " My grandad would sleep in the bee business firm when his shaver were too noisy . I think that is where I got the idea ! "
Trontelj built the cabin himself in 2020 during the COVID pandemic , and started renting it out in 2021 . Alongside the accommodation , he also volunteer honey massage , food and cosmetic made from bee products , and aerosol breathing mask linked now to the beehives . But Trontelj is n’t the only Slovenian to take part in bee touristry ; the nation isactively promotingwhat it hollo “ dearest health , ” part of several initiatives to advertize beekeeping in the area . Slovenia was even behind the UN initiative to create a World Bee Day in 2017 . And thanks to these initiatives , while many countries are facing a diminution in the number of bees , Slovenia ’s numbers areactually produce . There are a identification number of cabins like Trontelj ’s disperse throughout the body politic , where curious travelers can partake in apitherapy .
During my stay , I give the aerosol breathing masks a try , settle into a wooden chair and breathe in the air from the nettle rash . There ’s something about it that feels different from breathe normal air , a satisfying , luxurious , yet wholesome quality that makes me sense like I just had a dusty spyglass of water after a raise , or am sitting by a open fireplace on a winter ’s Clarence Day . I slip into a deep ease .
As for gravel my chief into a beehive ? Trontelj has a contraption to help with that too : a alloy mesh box enter into the hive that allows visitor like me to safely watch the brute build their honeycombs , or just relax and listen to the workers hum .
Trontelj steadfastly believes in the healing power of bees . He spend a yr studying apitherapy , or the use of bee ware for medicative and therapeutic purposes , in the nearby metropolis of Maribor . And apitherapy has existed for millenary . The Romans used love to treat wounds , and the seer Muhammed commend the habit of honey for stomach takings . Bee venom has long been used in Ayurvedic medical specialty to treat arthritis and skin condition . Studieshave also shown that bee venom , beloved , royal jelly , and propolis have anti - incendiary , anti - bacterial , and anticancer effects .
There is less scientific evidence for the specific benefits of beehive aerosols or meditation . However , beekeeping hasproven benefits for mental wellness , and there ’s certainly anecdotal grounds that the buzzing sounds are soothe to the judgment . Another benefit , I encounter , is merely feeling stuffy to the bees . We recognise how significant they are to our ecosystem , but we do n’t often get a opportunity to interact with them — and this act of biophilia , or loving and connect with the natural world , feel good .
Photo by Eloise Stark
" Bee therapy has always help me , " says Trontelj . " It is a way to venerate your body . bee do miracles . "
Bee therapy might be helping me , too . I feel relaxed as I emerge from my speculation seance in the hive . I settle down in the portion out kitchen domain with a record , and Trontelj hand me a glass of homemade dearest spirits . " you may wassail as much as you like . When you sleep in the beehouse , you ’ll never get a katzenjammer , " he promises . " The bees will help you . " The drink is rich and silky , with floral flavors that evolve with each sip .
I am pleasantly tiddly when I go to my cabin and rise into bottom . There is a storm outside , and the bee have retreated into the hives beneath me , making the cabin specially noisy . It ’s oddly comforting to hear the roar outdoors and the bee bombinate below . I go to slumber , my soundbox substance after a long day , which is itself a small miracle .
Photo by Eloise Stark
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