Bienenhaus Tour: what about having a closer look at it?

Ehy you’re a regular here now, aren’t you? You must admit it: you know pretty well our apiary, even if maybe you are observing it from miles away. Even if maybe you saw it only through pics or videos so far. What do you think about it?  

As far as I am concerned, apiaries fill me with peace and joy. I believe they are a kind of magic! They spread that certain of tradition. That something that is stand still in time and cared with love. A place where everybody is working pretty hard, but having a look at it, from outside, it simply looks like dead calm. An harmonious and balanced place, where man is in close contact with nature.

The very first time I visited Basti & granpa Heinz’s apiary, I must admit, it had a great WOW effect on me! What stroke me absolutely the most? The bienenhaus, the beehouse.  This little house with bright yellow & blue boxes, towering the apiary. It was the very first time I could see one, in Italy I had never seen any before. Here they are more widespread, you can find many especially in Eastern Europe countries. Generally I show mainly the front side…but what if today I show how it is far and wide? What if I explain you how it is? A real Bienenhaus tour! Would you fancy the idea? C’mon, let’s start!

Here it is our bienenhaus!

Bienen = bees

Haus = house

As my little nephew Edo would tell, from the top of his 2 years and half, “casa api zio Basti” (“house bees uncle Basti“). The Bienenhaus is literally the house of the bees. A house of the bees – ours! – with a certain story behind. Our garden develops upwards, like on a gentle slope on a little hill. Now you find it there, at the top of that ‘little hill’, where our apiary is located. But what if I tell you that it hasn’t been always there? Where was it before?

On a very nice day, granpa Heinz’s parents won at the lottery (we can’t be more envious!). Thanks to this, they bought a new house with a piece of land, right there there was our Bienenhaus. Nevertheless, this was too little for the tastes and needs of great-granpa, so they disassembled it and built it again here in the 60s, since granpa Heinz was very glad to have one. This Bienenhaus has been existing since much earlier, but granpa can’t tell us exactly since when. Then, great-granpa built a new Bienenhaus (the famous one, around which Basti used to run and play when little).

How is the Bienenhaus composed?

It is a little wooden house, long more or less 6 metres and wide about 3. At the front part you can see 10 beehives. These are an ancient version of the more modern hives, they’re a bit smaller and less practical to handle. You can pull out the honeycombs from the back part, with a huge pincer. Something you could seriously break your wrists with. This year we convinced granpa Heinz, that maybe it’s better to close these hives and use the Bienenhaus mainly as a beekeeping tool shed.

And behind?

Right, there’s a back part too. It’s absolutely not two-dimensional – you can enter it. On the left side, there is a door. Just above the entrance there is a hand-made sign, written in archaic German ‘zerzaust beflügelt im sammeln ungezügelt‘. This means ‘Ruffled with the wings, impossible to stop from collecting’.

A clear connection to our friends bees. The piece of wood is prepared by Basti’s great granpa. The writing from a friend of him. From this entrance, you enter in the Bienenhaus. Cool, we’re in! 🙂 You find yourself in a kind of corridor: what is there, at your left? The backpart of the hives! They are like closets. You open the little door (carefully locked), you take out the glass cover and you can pull out the honeycombs horizontally, with the help of the pincer.

And your right side??

There is a piece of furniture with the frames inside and a workdesk. Keeping on, always on the right, there is a piece of furniture with all drawers and shelves full of beekeeping and bequeen-breeding tools. There is a writing desk too where you can take notes.

While looking around, we found a gift that great-granpa gave to granpa Heinz: an amplifier. What is its purpose? In winter, if you are anxious to know if your bees are still alive in the beehive, but – of course – you can’t open it due to the low temperatures, you can literally auscultate the hives with this tool. Great-granpa Walter made it with his own hands, he was good in doing a bit of everything, like Basti. There is written something on it. On a side you can read “Lieber Heinz, sei auf der hut und horche immer gut“, that means “dear Heinz, stay always careful and always listen!“. Considering that granpa Heinz is now almost deaf, this makes us smile 🙂 And from the other side: “Willst von deinem Volk was wissen kannst du dieses Ding nicht missen! Summ Summ Tü tü tüt“, that means “When you want to listen to your beehive, you can’t miss this tool! bzzz“. This Walter must have been a very good and sweet person.

And at the bottom of the corridor of the Bienenhaus?

Dulcis in fundo, litterally! At the bottom of this corridor, there is a sliding door and you end up in the honeyharvesting room. A small room 2*3 metres, where we bring the honeycombs to be opened and mixed in the centrifuge. Small but very cosy, with a delicious honey smell in less then a second.

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The whole Bienenhaus is full of paintings and items from the past, it’s like a little big jewel box. It’s so nice to have such a special place where to keep such special memories. What do you think about it? Have you ever seen a one closely? Let us know, we’re curious 🙂 Do not forget to follow us on the social media, there you will find more pics and videos about our Bienenhaus!

A hug,

the Gäblini