Beekeeper
Dario Mardešić
He stepped in among the hives first, at the Faculty of Agriculture. He lifted his first frames in Orašac, under his mentor Dragiša.
About us
Two brothers, one association and a garden taken back from concrete
BeeCenter is run by Dario and David Mardešić, brothers who began on other people’s hives. The garden behind Dom kulture Silosi was made out of ground that had been under concrete.
01Our story
It began among someone else’s hives
At the Faculty of Agriculture, Dario opened a hive for the first time. After that, beekeeping did not end with the exam.
The real beekeeping started in Orašac, with his mentor Dragiša. That is where he lifted his first frames and learned to read a colony before touching it.
David followed his brother, first to help out, and then he stayed. BeeCenter began when that knowledge left the apiary and came into the city.
02How it came about
From someone else’s apiary to a garden of our own
The Faculty of Agriculture
Dario stands among hives for the first time. Bees enter the story as coursework and stay as work.
Orašac, at Dragiša’s
The first frames were lifted on someone else’s apiary, next to a mentor. That is where you learn what no book says: when a colony is handled and when it is left alone.
David joins
The brother comes to the apiary and stays. The hives have been run by two people ever since.
The Silosi
The ground behind Dom kulture Silosi lay under concrete and rubble. It was carted away until there was soil.
The Honey Garden
A thousand square metres, the api chamber, the glass observation hive and the pallet amphitheatre. Seventy-eight workshops have been held here so far.
03Urban beekeeping
Why a bee in the city
The garden is open to visitors, so a hive is seen up close and stops being something to walk around. The same place is both an apiary and a classroom.
Planting and greening go with the hives, because a colony with nothing in flower has nothing to do. So far 5,200 plants have gone into this garden.
Part of the work happens outside the garden. Through the Hive of Knowledge the glass hive travels into kindergartens and schools, to children who have never seen a bee standing still.
Let us makea city that hums more.
04The team
Who meets you in the garden
You are shown around the garden by someone who keeps the bees in it.
Beekeeper
David Mardešić
He followed his brother and stayed. Today he walks guests through the garden who are seeing a hive up close for the first time.
05Association and qualifications
Behind the garden there is also an association
We are members of the Belgrade Beekeepers’ Association. That is where knowledge is exchanged with people who have kept bees longer than we have, and where a mistake shows up fastest.
Our mentor is Stanko Rajić. Training came before the work with guests, because neither children nor bees are a place to improvise.
- AssociationBelgrade Beekeepers’ Association
- MentorStanko Rajić
- CertificateEU certificate in apipedagogy and apitourism
- CertificateCertified api-therapist course
- Complex developed withGAIA Pokret
06Partners
A garden is not made alone
The companies, embassies and institutions listed below have been here: as guests, as partners, or as support for one of the projects.
The garden also hosts evenings that are not ours, from a book launch to a bazaar and a choir under the string lights. The place works even when we are not teaching.
Who we have worked with
07Next step
You come. We will take care of the rest.
Write to us about what you have in mind: a walk through the garden, a workshop for children, a day with your team or a venue for an event.