Slovenes have a deep respect for honey bees. “If I see dead bees, I call a police SOS number, and they send a special inspector to check out the situation,” said Blaz Ambro zic, the beekeeper at Beekeeping Ambrozic-Kralov med, his family-owned apiary that’s just one mile from the popular resort town of Bled.

With such passion, it’s no surprise that the Slovenian Beekeeper’s Association successfully petitioned the United Nations to proclaim May 20 — the birthday of the native Slovene pioneer of modern beekeeping, Anton Jansa — as World Bee Day, celebrating the importance of honey bee preservation and boosting the public’s awareness of how significant bees are to the food supply.

Starting May 13 and for at least the rest of the month, the medieval Bled Castle will host an exposition on bees and beekeeping in the area.

Kralov med has introduced an apitourism (that is, tourism focused on and for people who love bees) project where visitors will don protective gear and spend up to two hours working with Mr. Ambro zic, including opening a hive with Carniolan bees — a subspecies under the protection of the Slovene government. In essence, guests become immersed in bees and beekeeping, such as learning how to distinguish honey from propolis (a waxy bee glue used to seal up hives), and how to extract honey from the hive’s cells.