As a lover of all things sweet, though not a beekeeper myself, I consider myself a beekeeping enthusiast. So, when I read that Bostjan Noč, President of the Slovene Beekeeping Association, had just launched a perfume made with Slovene honey I buzzed straight over to visit and take a smell for myself!

Fortunately I didn’t have far to go since the family-run Noč Beekeeping is in the hamlet of Selo, near Žirovnica, just a few kilometres from Radovljica. At the front of the family home there is a hive featuring 42 front panels painted with motifs from beneath Mt. Stol – the highest mountain in the Karavanke range. The interior of the hive is used as an outlet for selling honey and honey-related products.

The family have been practising beekeeping for centuries and have over 400 hives spread across various locations in Slovenia.

The perfume ‘Medena Noč’ (med being the Slovene word for honey), is exclusive to Noč Beekeeping and is currently only available direct from them, thus enquiries or orders should be address to: parfum.noc@gmail.com

In future it is planned that the perfume will be available in other outlets, so I’ll provide an update on that here in due course.

The scent is described as being reminiscent of “delicate flowers, warm early-summer evenings, with a subtle undertone of honey” and I wouldn’t disagree. It really lasts too, I could still smell it hours after my test spritz! In a blind ‘smelling’ I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to identify honey as a key ingredient, as it’s not immediately obvious, but in a good way, as it means its not too sweet smelling and the combination of ingredients works.

The painted front panels on this small hive are dedicated to the Slovene folk music legend, Slavko Avsenik, from nearby Begunje na Gorenjskem.

And, of course, I couldn’t come away empty handed without some Slovene honey!

More information about Noč Beekeeping can be found here (in Slovene only) – http://www.cebelarstvo-noc.si/default.asp

© Adele in Slovenia