There are many interesting places described by our Nitra travel guide but one of the oddest lies in the southern part of the Štiavnické mountains in the Nitra Region. It is a red, hexagonal construction containing two beds that can be used for sleeping or just relaxing.
It is, in fact, a bee hotel, whose purpose is to re-connect visitors to the village Uhliská, near Banská Štiavnica, with nature. The philosophy behind this unusual structure lies in apitherapy and it was built by Dušan Budinský.
Try to relax
He likes to work with wood and so to design and build an api-house in this shape was a good challenge for him.
He wanted to make it different from those that are usually accessible on the market.
People visit this place to be united with nature and to relax.
“I used to live a stressful life in Bratislava for so long and this was kind of a calming experience,” Budinský said for TASR. “We try to make our visitors relax as much as they can so they will perceive what is going on around them and nothing more.”
Bees will not get in
The bee hotel is built from natural materials, painted with linen colours and its shape is that of a bee-hive cell with a small terrace in front. The two beds are built over beehives but visitors do not have to be afraid of bees buzzing around in the room as the openings to the hives are outside
“It is possible to feel their presence only by the vibrations and the smell they emit,” Budinský noted for TASR.
Enjoy the scent
Visitors have the option to stay in the house for a few hours or for the whole night. “When I started as a beekeeper, the best thing for me was when a beekeeper from whom I was learning, opened the beehive near me and I smelled that beautiful scent,” Budinský said. “It is an opportunity to get familiar with bees, how they smell, what their lives are about.”

He added they have also literature about the bees in the house that visitors may read.
Sleeping in the house is beneficial for health; particles of honey and pollen in the air have a good impact on the mucosa of the bronchial tubes. Breathing such air lowers the blood pressure and improves the composition of blood.
Spectacular Slovakia travel guides
- A helping hand in the heart of Europe thanks to the Slovakia travel guide with more than 1,000 photos and hundred of tourist spots.
- Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains, including attractions on the Polish side.
- Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with our City Guide!
- See some selected travel articles, podcasts, traveller's needs as well as other guides dedicated to Nitra, Trenčín Region, Trnava Region and Žilina Region.

15. Aug 2020 at 9:35 | Compiled by Spectator staff