Archives for April 21st, 2005

The four-legged bird of death, from an old Slovenian bee panel.

Slovenia has an old and glorious tradition of decorating the front boards of beehives, known as poslikane panjske konÄ?nice.
The first one appeared as early as 1758, and featured the Virgin Mary.
Biblical themes remained popular after that, so you’ll find scenes
ranging from the Garden of Eden to the crucifixion to Job sitting on a large pile of manure. (Job was considered the protector of beekeepers in Slovenia. Also popular were depictions of St. Florian, the protector against fire.)

The boards were often painted by the beekeepers themselves and showed scenes from everday life back then, such as people dancing, drinking, enjoying a windy day, or taking a large dump in the middle of a field.

This page has 142 pictures of decorated Slovenian bee boards, including the one you see above: the mighty "bird of death." The phrase Mertvaška Tica ki se je na turškem perkazala
means something like "The bird of death that appeared in Turkey." It’s
old Slovene. I suppose they’re talking about a military defeat of the
Turks — perhaps the Battle of Sisak in 1593. I’m not sure. However, "bird of death" would be a great name for a band, even though it reminds me a bit of the Duck of Death.

For more bee-related goodness, see: A virtual tour of the Museum of Apiculture in Radovljica and this page about Slovenia’s famous Carniolan bees.

(Via Metafilter)