Folk art did not see its full bloom until the 18th century. What can you tell us about the social, historical and cultural conditions of the time in Slovenia?

Folk art, in the sense of an artistic horizon of the masses in individual periods of historical development, took on exceptional proportions in the 18th century. This was related to the general prosperity enjoyed by Slovenian farmers, which was in turn related to certain relevant state measures of the Austrian mercantilism and physiocracy. Moreover, with Marko Pohlin [who published a Slovenian language grammar book in Germany in 1768] the Slovenian people received their first broad programme of cultural activity, including literature and science. I believe the introduction of public schools by the Empress Maria Theresa in 1774 was of extreme importance for our further development. At the time, the Slovenian language was used primarily in the first grades of primary schools. This raised the issue of the uniformity of the standard Slovenian language as well as the related issue of the ethnic borders of the people communicating in this language. This was a point of departure in defining the Slovenian ethnic territory and the people living on it.

The next important step was the work of historian and playwright Anton Tomaž Linhart, An Outline of the History of Carniola and Other Provinces of Southern Slavs in Austria (1789/1791), which gave the first clear definition of the Slovenian nation as a separate branch of the Slavic group of peoples. The social developments of the time were greatly affected by a short-lived occupation by the French and Napoleon's Illirian Provinces from 1809 to 1813. That period was very important for the development of Slovenian farmers, and it therefore should not come as a surprise that motifs from that historical period are often depicted on beehive panels. The brief period under the Illirian Provinces encouraged Slovenians to shift their thoughts and aspirations to political issues too.

Painted beehive panels are unique examples of Slovenian popular art. They were common throughout large parts of today's Slovenia, the Austrian province of Carinthia, populated by Slovenians, as well as further north. Outside Slovenia, records only mention two locations: the Lammertal Valley south of Innsbruck and a vicinity of Brunneck. Why did this form of popular art occur in Slovenia?

To put it shortly, I could say that there were technological as well as social and evolutionary reasons. The Slovenian territory, especially its Alpine and central area, had been a well- developed and innovative centre of mass beekeeping for centuries. This was testified by outstanding individuals who "grew up" in this environment to become exceptional beekeeping experts, innovators, teachers and authors of technical articles on a wider European scale. In Slovenia, beekeeping used to be an important element in people's lives and an important line of business, which linked together material and technological as well as spiritual and social efforts by individuals and the community. It was beekeeping that afforded a full expression of individuality - an important trait of Slovenian national and economic character in the past centuries. The painted front panels of beehives emerged as the result of a greater prosperity of Slovenian farmers, who were then able to afford some visual "luxury" (as for example with painted furniture, interior design, architecture, etc.). The art of painted beehive panels was most widely spread in Carniola, Koroško and the northwestern part of Štajersko. Painted beehive panels were less common in Dolenjsko, part of the area around Kočevje, the area between Postojna and Nova Gorica, all the way to Tolmin. Given the intensity of contacts with somewhat distant regions, painted beehive panels can also be found in the areas mentioned in your question.

The extent and significance of beekeeping in Slovenia was even reported by Janez Vajkard Valvasor (1641-1693). Does he also mention painted beehive panels in his books?

Polymath Janez Vajkard Valvasor was a renowned aristocrat who spread the magnificence of his Duchy of Carniola (a large part of today's Slovenia) across Europe in his fundamental work, the four extensive volumes of Die Ehre des Hertzogthums Krain (The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, 1689). His minute descriptions of material, social and spiritual life, depictions of castles, cities and settlements, natural phenomena and disasters, also include a reference to beekeeping as a distinctive and widespread form of economic activity. What is especially important is that he published a recipe for mead, a drink that has only recently acquired the necessary formal, legal and technical requirements for its authenticity to be internationally protected. Valvasor does not report on beehive panels, as this phenomenon had not been known at the time his book was published. The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola came out in the late 17th century, while the first emergence of beehive panels was not known until the mid 18th century. The oldest preserved beehive panel dates from 1758.

There are believed to be many beehive panel painters; experts divide them into three stylistic groups, with more than 700 different motifs. Could you tell us something about the motifs and the methods of painting?

Beehive panel painting was a widespread movement. Today, we could call it a manifestation of popular art. The authorship therefore ranged from individual, amateur self-educated craftsmen to more skilled individuals (painters), who worked for commissions. According to some very rough estimates, this popular form of art produced more than 50,000 specimens with about 700 different motifs. These depict various topics from the everyday life of people, such as festivities, religious beliefs, historical and geographical horizons, the relationship between the sexes, characters, professions, human vices and virtues, ideas, etc. Beehive panels were essentially unique "open-air galleries". At the same time, they formed part of visual communication in the second half the 18th and the 19th century. Their narrative contents often provided a substitute for reading among the illiterate. They tell stories of Slovenian people, their business efforts, their thinking about the world, and their emotions.

The Radovljica Museum of Beekeeping can boast a fine permanent exhibition of beehive panels. What else would you recommend to those who appreciate this popular art?

There are some 3,000 beehive panels believed to be preserved in Slovenia today. We have to be careful with this figure, because some private collections are not widely known. Institutions that keep them are the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana, the Radovljica Museum of Beekeeping, and the Slovenj Gradec Koroško Regional Museum. In addition, some specimens are also kept by other museums (Celje, Novo mesto, Maribor). One or two beehive panels can even be found in the collection of the Musée de l´Homme in Paris, which is currently undergoing reconstruction. Many individuals make replicas to be sold as tourist souvenirs. However, few of them really deserve their name. Many designers of replicas and copies will make up new motifs or change the methods and colours traditionally used in beehive panel painting.