Ambrožič, who was born in 1846, developed his passion for bees after he was given a beehive by his father. He had a difficult upbringing; his mother died when he was still a child, and he helped his father to run the family farm, but his passion for bees remained as strong as ever.

Soon, the young Ambrožič made a living from buying and selling beehives. He became particularly well-known for popularizing the Carniolan honeybee, a breed that originates in Slovenia, and helped local beekeepers to sell their hives abroad – a feat helped by the advent of new railroads.

Ambrožič also painted beehive panels -- a uniquely Slovenian form of folk art. He became well-known for his designs, as well as for inventing devices to modernize beekeeping, including a gadget enabling beekeepers to listen to swarms of bees in hives and a special flat beehive that made the transport of bees much easier.

Ambrožič took his devices and his beehives to conferences across Europe and received no fewer than 147 awards at numerous competitions from France to Bohemia. At one point, he owned hundreds of hives and exported them throughout the continent; it is estimated that, during his career, he sold more than 10,000 beehives to all parts of Europe – and as far as Vladivostok.

Ambrožič died in 1904, but for a while, his wife continued the family’s beekeeping tradition. Beekeepers throughout Slovenia now carry on the passion of a man who helped to make Slovenian honey a respected brand – one that is once again winning accolades outside Slovenia’s borders.