Setting up the urban apiary in the commercial district is a realisation of a commitment to support a nature-friendly and responsible sustainable development, BTC's chairman Jože Mermal told the press on the occasion.

His opinion was echoed by the head of the Beekepers' Association Boštjan Noč, who said that the apiary will provide an important contribution to the development of beekeeping in an urban environment.

The project aims to promote beekeeping as an extracurricular activity in elementary schools, encourage city inhabitants to keep fruitful plants and generally inform the people about the importance of the bees, Noč added while pointing out that one third of world food production depends on bee pollination.

Noč also expressed concern over the fact that currently bees have better living conditions in urban environments as opposed to the countryside, which in his opinion means that there is something wrong with Slovenian agriculture.

Slovenia has a long tradition of beekeeping. Noč says that the country has the biggest bee density per square kilometre in Europe and is the second most numerous beekeeping country per capita with a total of some 10,000 beekeepers.

This is also not the first urban apiary in Ljubljana. The Cankarjev dom arts centre, located in the centre of the city, has an apiary housing bees since May 2011.

What is more, analysis has shown that the honey produced by its 100,000 Carniolan bees is safer than honey produced in areas with intensive farming, as it contains no pesticides, acids, heavy metals or GMOs.