We can bee friendlier to the nature

The weather does not mean well with us - at the moment we deal with 100 percent chance of rain and zero sun hours.

Luckily, this does not hinder our productivity.

Today, we helped to produce apple juice. André, Biotehniska's master of wine, cider and juice, gave us a great insight into his everyday work. We learned about the production of sparkling wine and apple juice and we were able to watch and assist the process from apple to juice in all its steps.























In the afternoon, we went to the Enigmarium, an escape room in Maribor.

We enjoyed this so much!







Also, here are some more pictures from our last days that the students took - enjoy!

Today our students had their first day at the Biotehniska school in Maribor.

We started with some interesting videos that showed us the importance of BEEING FRIENDLY TO THE NATURE which is the motto of our program.



After that, the Slovenian students showed us the school property - including the animals!















After our little tour we started our workshops:

Beekeeping

Painting Beehives

Building frames for Beehives

Take a look at the pictures!















In the afternoon, we planned to go up Pohorje, Maribor's "hill" - or mountain, as we from the flat lands of Hamburg would call it - but unfortunately the rain crossed our plans. Instead we spend the time in the city and Maribor's shopping mall, the Europark.
Now we are playing games together - Werewolf!

We used the Sunday wisely and drove by bus to the coast.

First, we stopped at an ancient dripstone cave. This cave was the first touristic cave in Europe. The first visitors were sailors and traders in the 15th century. What an impressive sight!







After that, we drove to Piran at the Slovenian coast. The Slovenian coast is only 42 km long but very beautiful! It looks a bit like Italy here, which makes since it's close to both the Italian and the Croatian boarder. In Piran we visited the shell museum and then we enjoyed some free time. Some of us even went swimming! (In 16 degrees cold water!).
In the end we had dinner at a pizza restaurant.

We had the best day - thank you to our Slovenian friends for organizing this lovely trip for us!

The last round of our exchange program has started - the Hamburgers are in Maribor!

On Friday we took the train to Berlin where we slept one night. From Berlin we took an early flight to Graz yesterday where we were warmly welcomed by our Slovenian friends.

Here are some pictures from our journey:

















Later that day, our hosts showed us the city in incredible weather - what a treat!












Finally, we had a lovely dinner in town, what an awesome first day!

On Wednesday, April 10, 2019, a campaign of planting honey trees took place in the Betnavski gozd (forest) in Maribor, attended by numerous volunteers. The action was made possible by the company Slovenian National Forests (SiDG), which manages the Betnavski gozd. The campaign also represents the beginning of a wider educational and motivational campaign “SEM SPREMEMBA” (I AM CHANGE), which aims to raise awareness of the exceptional significance of bees for human survival.
The Betnavski gozd is richer for different types of linden trees, cherry trees, chestnut trees, maple trees and rowan trees. The inhabitants, beekeepers, students of the Biotechnical School Maribor and students of the School of Wood and Forestry have planted forty honey trees.



One of the roles of the forest is also to offer pastures for bees, which can be improved with tree species which blooming. The Biotechnical School Maribor is aware of this, so we joined the campaign “SEM SPREMEMBA”.
The campaign aims to encourage every person, company and institution, to plant at least one flowering plant. Each flower means food for bees, even if it is "just" a flower in a pot on a balcony terrace.
In May, the campaign will continue with the planting of nectar flowers and nectar shrubs at selected primary and secondary schools (also in the vicinity of our beehive).
Even in small gardens, from early spring to late autumn, bees can be harvested by pollen. In sunny places, bees are delighted with purple coneflowers, carnations, orange coneflowers, large-flowered tickseeds, New York asters, lavenders, sages, showy stonecrops ... In the shady areas of the gardens, bees are also interesting for black hellebores, lady's-mantles, astilbes,…

At the end of February and in the beginning of March, the sun had already warmed the atmosphere very well, and the first bees went to see the surroundings. The most conscientious were already carrying the first pollen in the hive. With first flying bees, the work begins for the beekeeper.
The most important task is to observe bee colonies before the hive entrance. If the bees do not fly out during the warm weather, or if the hive entrances are soiled with honey and wax, this is a sign that there is something wrong with bee's family. Last year's warm autumn and this year's warm winter active bee robbers. Two school families have also been robbed.




We have clened up the hives of robbed families with the students, while we added some frames with honey and sugar cakes (fondant block) to the rest families.



The students showed their artistic talent in painting hives. They also participate in the international art and literary competition.



For the information day in our school and fair Altermed, we prepared several different types of cream honey (with raspberry, blueberry, cocoa, ginger and cinnamon). Our creamy honey always have a good response and almost of the experimenters like it..



We also carried out honey analyzes at laboratory exercises. We measured the electrical conductivity of honey, the percentage of water in the honey, the amount of hydroxymethylfurforal in the honey, looking for pollen grains with pollen analysis of honey and performed sensory analysis of honey.
The bees were examined for Varroa Mites and Nosema.. We found that Varroa is constantly present, but does not endanger our families. We did not find Nosema in our samples.
With the research project Apitherapy with royal jelly we participated in the project Mladi za napredek Maribora.
We need to complete some other research tasks on the topic of beekeeping. We will present our tasks at a competition in the knowledge and skills of the Consortium of Biotechnical schools of Slovenia.

Here is the final weather report for 2018 (the estate of the Biotechnical School Maribor). You can see important monthly data and a total average for 2018. The report shows that the average temperature in 2018 was 11.34 °C or higher by 0.79 °C compared to the 30-year average. However, the year 2018 was not the warmest, it still belongs to 2000 and 2014, when the average temperature was 12 °C.
The highest temperature was 33.9 °C, which is far from the record temperature measured on the property, which was 40.6 °C (August 8th 2013). But the record mark (- 23 °C) approached the lowest temperature in 2018, which was - 20.2 °C.
In 2018 there were 27 days warmer than 30 °C, fortunately only five days were such that even the lowest daily temperature did not fall below 20 °C (tropical night).
In the year 2018, precipitation was only 784.6 mm, which is much less than the 30-year average (893 mm). The highest precipitation was recorded in 1962 (1304 mm) and the lowest in 2011 (604 mm).
In 2018 we only had one very rainy day when 78.6 mm of precipitation fell (4. 5. 2018). Especially in the first half of the year, we felt that the rain was falling steadily (93 days of precipitation), but it should be emphasized that 31 days were of such occurrence as less than 1 mm precipitation fell. So we can say that it is often only a rosé, which does not greatly benefit the plants or can even harm them if the temperature is high enough (the possibility of mold and rust).
You can find more detailed information in the attachment.

weather_report_maribor2018 (pdf, 150 KB)

Comparison of average monthly temperatures in 2018 with the long-term average of the period 1981-2010.



Comparison of precipitation in 2018 with a long-term average of the period 1981-2010.

Are climate change really not happening? Weather conditions are changing rapidly, especially when compared to long-term measurements. This February was a real contradiction to last year's. February 2018 showed us that it is truly a winter month. This year, it's spring.
The difference between the highest (28th February) and the lowest (7th February) measured temperature in the month was as high as 31 °C. From this, we can understand, that we had cold nights and mornings and too high daily temperatures.
The average monthly temperature was much higher than the average of the period from 1981 to 2010, it was 4,7 °C, and it was 3 °C higher than the long-term average. By comparison, in February 2018, the average temperature was - 1.41 °C (6.11 °C lower). The long-term average for February is 1.7 °C in Maribor. If we compare only the average temperature of the second half of the month with the average period from 1981 to 2010, we can see that it was higher by 4.53 °C.
In February, the average temperature was only five times below the freezing point (0 °C). The maximum temperature did not reach even the freezing point. The minimum temperature was nine times above the freezing point. The lowest temperature in February was - 8 °C, and the highest temperature was 23 °C. Compared to February 2018, the lowest temperature was - 20.2 °C and the highest was 11.58 °C.



Precipitation data show that the trend of falling precipitation is still continuing. There was no snow fall at all, therefore drought is expected in March, especially in cereals (barley, wheat).
In February there was less precipitation than a long-term average. The measuring device detected only 16.2 mm of precipitation, and the long-term average is 38 mm precipitation. Most precipitation dropped in the first half of the month. In February 2018, dropped 78.6 mm of precipitation and 106.8 cm of snow.



The average relative humidity in February was 67.85 %, which is even less than in January. In February 2018 it was as much as 86.42 %.

January is the central month of meteorological winter and is usually the coldest month of the year, which was not the case in January 2018, which was the third warmest January since the temperature has been measured in Slovenia. This year, January was more normal, although the temperatures were still too high.
The difference between the highest (January 17) and the lowest (January 26) measured temperature in the month was 23.3 °C.
The average monthly temperature was higher than the average of the period from 1981 to 2010, it was 0.17 °C and it was 0.27 °C higher than the long-term average. The long-term average for January is - 0.1 °C in Maribor. For comparison, in January 2018, the average temperature was 2.87 °C.
The difference in average temperature between the coldest (January 26) and the warmest (January 17) day was 12.38 °C.
In January, the average temperature was fourteen times below the long-term average (- 0.1 °C). The maximum temperature was three days above 10 °C, and only two days below 0 °C. The lowest temperature in January was - 9.6 °C and the highest temperature was 13.7 °C.



Precipitation data show that there was very little precipitation in January, which has been happening for more than half a year. The problem is that there were no snowfalls, which represent a stock of water for the spring months. There were seven rainy days, with 28.8 mm of precipitation, which is less as long as the long-term average (35 mm of precipitation). In January 2018, fell 44.4 mm of precipitation.



The average relative humidity in January was 77.22 %, which is less than in January 2018 (85.28%). Given the lower amount of precipitation this is normal. In January there was a significant fluctuation in air humidity, with only 55 % to 93 % of moisture.

The apples were sorted and washed in water,



then we put them in a box and washed again.



Then we crushed them in a mill



and mash transferred into the press.



We squeezed the mash to 150 bars. The apples were overripe, so we squeezed out less juice than we expected.



From 80 kg of apples we extracted 22 liters of apple juice. The juice was poured into a bowl through the strainer in which he waited until the next day.



Overnight, the larger pieces of apples saturated. We did not add any additive to juice.
The next day, we pasteurized juice.



We prepared 14 liters of cloudy apple juice. The juice was pasteurized at 86 °C. When bottled it had a temperature of 78.8 °C, which dropped below 70 °C after 11 minutes. The bottles were closed with a stopper, and then laid for 1 minute to make the stopper disinfect. The bottles were cooled below 30 °C in cold water and dropped in wooden box.

We set off from our school at 7.15 in the morning toward Italy. We arrived in Italy at 12.00 o'clock and boarded the plane at 14:00 o'clock. The view from the plane was very beautiful and interesting.



The plane ride took about 2 hours so we arrived in Hamburg at 16:00 o'clock. At the airport, the students from Rissen were waiting for us with a sign that said: »WELCOME TO HAMBURG«. That was a friendly welcome from them. Later, we went to the hostel to check-in and get our stuff out of the bags, had dinner, where student from Germany joined us, so we could get to know each other.



Our week in Hamburg was really interesting. Each day we woke up at 7.30 am and went to their school by train in the morning. At their school we worked on different start up projects,




prepared the material for Autumn Market in their workshops,



went to their classes to see how they learn, exchanged experience and knowledge, learned from each other a lot,



but also played outside, had fun. …It was amazing!!! After school we usually had some fun activities: Dialogue in the dark (extraordinary, unforgettable 90 min experience in the skin of blind people),



ice skating,



sightseeing tour,




basketball game, romantic boat trip,



selfie rally,



museum,… In the evening we hang out and went out to eat at different restaurants an (Mr. Kebab, Peacetambul…)



or we just went to the park DOM, which was the biggest amusement park I had ever seen.



But sadly our time to go home came too quickly, like 1,2,3 and boom Sunday was just around the corner. Of course, everybody was really sad that it was time to leave Hamburg because we met a lot of amazing people, who we never thought we could have met. So when we were getting ready in the morning (packing our luggage) our friends from this year's project and last's year project came to surprise us at the hostel. They wanted to spend the whole day with us, because we had time before our flight back. We decided to go to the city and the museum and do some sightseeing before we went home.



Our tour of the city ended at 16.00 o'clock when we had to go to the airport. Some of them even came to the airport with us to say our last good-byes. It was a truly sad moment when we were leaving Hamburg because we met so many great people. Some of us even cried, but we promised each other to stay in contact or even visit without school.



We boarded our plane and landed in Italy, Venice. The last thing was the car ride back home which took about 4 hours. We arrived in Slovenia at 1.30 in the morning. Tired, but full of unforgettable memories.

In December we had a weather that was too hot for this season. The average temperatures were very diverse at that time, for a few days we had average temperatures below zero, a few days above zero, and this was repeated all month. A drastic trend of falling rainfall continued.
The difference between the highest (December 4) and the lowest (December 16) measured temperature in the month was as high as 26.4 °C. This is not such a big surprise, given the very high temperature fluctuations throughout the month.
The average monthly temperature was significantly higher than the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 – it was 1.09 °C, and it was 0.29 °C higher than the long-term average. The long-term average for December is 0.8 °C in Maribor. The average temperature fluctuated throughout the month. The difference between the average temperature of the coldest (December 16) and the warmest (December 4) day was 12.21 °C. The differences between night and day temperatures were reduced. The difference ranged from 1 to 15 °C, and on average the differences were greater than in November. In December the difference was 9 °C (In November 6 °C).
In December, the daily average temperature was fifteen times below the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 (0.8 °C). The maximum temperature was six days above 10 °C, one day above 15 °C, and only two days below 0 °C. The lowest temperature in December was -10.5 °C, and the highest temperature was 15.9 °C. In the last month, the average temperature dropped by 0.06 °C in relation to the long-term average.



Precipitation data show that there was very little precipitation in December, which has been happening for more than half a year. In December, only 19 % of the precipitation dropped, as is the long-standing average. The measuring device detected 11.6 mm of precipitation, which is much less as long as the long-term average (61 mm of precipitation).



The average relative humidity in December was 81.98 %, which is less than in November. For December, there was a significant fluctuation in relative humidity (between 63 % to 95 %). Interestingly, only 88 % of moisture was in the air, on the only real rainy day of the month.

Our clear apple juice was produced from the RUBINETTE variety, which is crossed with COX ORANGE X ZLATI DELIŠES.
First we sorted the apples. For apple juice we selected apples with a diameter of less than 6 cm and damaged apples. We have prepared the best quality apple for sale.



Then all the apples were washed. Water was poured into a larger container and each box of apples washed separately. Apples were ready for grinding.



We milled the apples with an electric mill. We poured the apples into a mill, which was crushed into a pulp, which we intercepted in a plastic box.



We poured a apple pulp into a hydraulic press.



When the pressure rose, the apple pulp began to squeeze and, consequently, the juice began to flow.



Under the press we had containers in which we collected the juice. When the container was full, we poured the juice into a large bowl. There were 50 liters of apple juice.



On 50 liters of juice, we added 15 ml of fruit enzyme and 25 g of gelatin and 75 g of bentonite, which helps to clean the juice. We mixed all together and left in the container until the next morning.



The next morning, we decanted the juice, so we separated the sediment from the juice. We decanted it with a plastic tube.



Then, apple juice was filtered with a pad filter.




After filtration, the juice was pasteurized with pasteurisator. We destroyed all the microorganisms and thus prolong the storage life of apple juice.
Apple juice was ready for bottling.



The bottles with heated apple juice were immersed in cold water to cool it as quickly as possible. Then we put the bottles in a box.
Clear apple juice was ready for use.

In November, the warm autumn weather continued, which only faltered in the second half of the month. The average temperatures were very diverse at that time. In the last part of the month, temperatures dropped significantly on average. The reducing trend of the amount of precipitation was continued.
The difference between the highest (November 12) and the lowest (November 30) measured temperature in the month was as high as 28.2 °C. This is not such a big surprise, given the very high temperatures in the first part of the month and low in the last part of the month.
The average monthly temperature was also significantly higher than the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 – it was 6.81 °C, and it was 1.71 °C higher than the long-term average. The long-term average for November is 5.1 °C in Maribor. The average temperature was very high in the first half of the month, but fairly constant. In the second half of the month the average temperature dropped by as much as 10 °C. The difference between the average temperature of the coldest (November 30) and the warmest (November 3) day was 18.62 °C. The differences between night and day temperatures were reduced. The difference ranged from 1 to 17 °C, and on average only about 6 °C.
In November, the daily average temperature was only ten times below the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 (5.1 °C). The maximum temperature was nine days above 15 °C, two days above 20 °C, and only 7 days below 5 °C. The lowest temperature in November was -7.3 °C, and the highest temperature was 20.9 °C. In the first eleven months, the average temperature was 1.08 °C higher than the long-term average. In the last month, the average temperature increased by 0.06 °C in relation to the long-term average.



Precipitation data show that there was very little precipitation in November, what is happening in the last half of the year. In November, 86 % of the precipitation dropped, as is the long-standing average. The measuring device detected 59.4 mm of precipitation, which is much less as long as the long-term average (69 mm of precipitation). In the first eleven months, 59 mm less precipitation fell than the long-term average. In the first eleven months we recorded as much as 146 precipitation days or 43.7 % days.



The average relative humidity in November was 89.05 %, which is much more than in October. According to cold nights and more moisture in the air during the day, this was expected.

The pleasant weather continued in October. The average temperatures were constant at that time. The downward trend in rainfall continued.
The difference between the highest (October 10 and 11) and the lowest (October 1) measured temperature in the month was 20.4 °C. This is a surprise, given the constant temperatures this month.
The average monthly temperature was higher than the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 – it was 12.6 °C, and it was 1.90 °C higher than the long-term average. The long-term average for October is 10.7 °C in Maribor. The average temperature was in the range of 10 to 15 ° C for a whole month. The difference between the average temperature of the coldest (October 21) and the warmest (October 29) day was 6.26 °C. The differences between night and day temperatures, were up to 17 °C, which is less than in the previous months.
In October, the daily average temperature was eight times below the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 (10.7 °C). The maximum temperature was thirteen days between 20 and 23 °C, and only four days below 15 °C. The lowest temperature in October was 2 °C, and the highest temperature was 22.4 °C. In the first ten months, the average temperature was 1.02 °C higher than the long-term average. In the last month, the average temperature increased by 0.10 °C in relation to the long-term average.



Precipitation data show that there was very little precipitation in October, which has been going on for the last five months. In October 65,4 % of the precipitation dropped, as is the long-standing average. The measuring device detected 51 mm of precipitation, which is much less as long as the long-term average (78 mm of precipitation). In the first ten months, 49.4 mm less precipitation fell than the long-term average. In the first ten months we recorded as much as 136 precipitation days, almost half of all days (44.7 %).



The average relative humidity in October was 80.53 %, which is slightly more than in the months before. According to cold night, this was expected.

Third consecutive year, at the Biotechnical School Maribor, we decided to include pumpkins in the crop rotation. The main reason is, of course, pumpkin oil obtained from pumpkin seeds. On Tuesday, September 11th, 2018, students of agricultural technician started with a typical autumn farm chores, harvesting a pumpkins. Due to less precipitation in the summer time, the crop was lower than it should have been, but it is still higher than in 2017.
The pupils separated all the pumpkins and placed them in the rows, where they waited for a pumpkin combine.
The next day, we started the counting, measuring and weighing of randomly selected pumpkins. The measurements were taken very seriously, since the results obtained were also needed for the ERASMUS + project.




With the measurements, we wanted to find out what the crop is on the whole surface, what is the average weight of pumpkin, average diameter, quantity of pumpkin seeds, etc ..
Work was done quickly. So those who counted pumpkins in the field as well as those who carried out the measurements.



We were interested in the proportion of pumpkin seeds in pumpkins. That's why we decided to remove pumpkin seeds by hand. We first weighed pumpkins,



split them in half and remove the seeds.



In the end we weighed the seeds, to determine the proportion of seeds in the pumpkin.



This year's measurements can be compared with last year's. It will be interesting to see, how weather affected on the pumpkin and pumpkin seeds production.
The other pumpkins were mechanically harvested. The combine picked up pumpkins with a hedgehog, crushed it, separated the pumpkin meat from the seeds, and finally stored seeds separately.
After the harvest, pumpkin seeds were dried.

pumpkin harvest 2018 (pdf, 27 KB)

At the subject Fruit Processing, we learned how to process the fruit into a jam. That's why we decided to cook our jam. Jam were prepared from frozen sour cherries, raspberries, fresh BIO lemons and oranges.
At the beginning, we prepared knives, trays on which we cut, various containers, kitchen scales, wooden spoons and other accessories and, of course, fruit. During the work was very important hygiene, so we often washed our hands and dress appropriately. Professor Podjavoršek gave us some instruction and then we could start work. During preparation of jam, we kept the recipes we received.
Preparation of jam is very important. It is a final fruit product, which can be very economically useful, as it is easier for us to sell fruit that we produce on farms.

Preparation of jam

We needed:
• gelling agent in a ratio of 2:1
• 1250 g of fruit
• 500 g of sugar

To the gelling agent was added two spoons of sugar and stirred.



Prepared fruit and gelling agent.



The prepared gelling agent mix with fruit (the fruit must be cold).



Cook at high temperature and stir constantly. Before it boils, we can mash the fruit.



After boiling, add sugar (500 g). Cook for another 3 minutes, stir constantly.



If necessary, remove the foam.



When we remove the foam, we can pour jam into glasses.



Turn all glasses (on the cap) for 5 minutes.



Addition of gelling agent and sugar can also be done the gelling test.



The gelling test is a cooking process, to determine if the dish - most often jam - is thickened during cooking. The gelling test is done by taking a little jam from the pot and placing it on a plate. When the drop on the plate does not break, the dish is sufficiently dense or cooked.

Cooked and photographed: students from 3.a and 4.a program agricultural technician

There are some more pictures:

Our fourth theme it is about "raised garden bed".




14 Reasons why raised gardeb beds are the best way to garden:

~ good aeration,
~ good drainage,
~ root spread,
~ less risk of soil compaction,
~ better weed control,
~ it is easier than trying to amend existing soil,
~ build on existing turf,
~ relief from root run from trees,
~ better pest control,
~ provides extra space,
~ extend the growing season,
~ higher yield from intensive gardening,
~ ideal for mobility challenged gardeners,
~ portability.

More information is here:
https://www.naturallivingideas.com/14-reasons-why-raised-beds-are-the-best-way-to-garden/



dictionary_raised_garden_bed (pdf, 124 KB)

In September, the summer weather continued, which farewell in the last third of the month. The average temperatures were constant at that time. In the last part of the month, temperatures dropped significantly on average. The reducing trend of the amount of precipitation was continued.
The difference between the highest (September 12) and the lowest (September 27) measured temperature in the month was as high as 28.5 °C. This is not such a big surprise, given the very high temperatures in the first part of the month and low in the last part of the month.
The average monthly temperature was also significantly higher than the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 – it was 17.1 °C, and it was 1.50 °C higher than the long-term average. The long-term average for September is 15.6 °C in Maribor. The average temperature in the first two thirds of the month fluctuated slightly but did not change excessively. In the last week, the average temperature dropped by as much as 10 to 14 °C. The difference between the average temperature of the coldest (September 26) and the warmest (September 12) day was 13.39 °C. There were also great differences between night and day temperatures, up to 20 °C, which is more than in the previous months.
In September, the daily average temperature was nine times below the average of the period from 1981 to 2010 (15.6 °C). The maximum temperature was only seven days below 20 °C, six days above 20 to 25 °C, and seventeen days above 25 °C. The lowest temperature in September was 1 °C, and the highest temperature was 29.5 °C. In the first nine months, the average temperature was 0.92 °C higher than the long-term average. In the last month, the average temperature increased by 0.07 ° C in relation to the long-term average.



Precipitation data show that there was very little precipitation in September, which has been going on for the last four months. In August, only 47,7 % of the precipitation dropped, as is the long-standing average. The measuring device detected 47.2 mm of precipitation, which is much less as long as the long-term average (99 mm of precipitation). In the first nine months, 22.4 mm less precipitation fell than the long-term average. In the first nine months we recorded as much as 126 precipitation days, almost half of all days (46.2 %).



The average relative humidity in September was 76.6 %, which is slightly more than in the months before. According to cold night, this was expected. Therefore, relative humidity, despite high daily temperatures, only six time dropped below 70 %. As a result, molds appeared in the vineyards. Consequently, we had to hurry up with harvesting grapes.