Beekeeping Museum at the Plattner Farm

Alone the journey to the Beekeeping Museum - "Imkereimuseum Plattner Bienenhof" in German, "Museo dell'Apicoltura Maso Plattner" in Italian - might be an adventuresome, as you could take the Renon Cable Car from Bolzano in order to reach Soprabolzano, if you don't spend your holidays in this place anyway. This ride makes you enjoy a highly impressive view on the mountains of South Tyrol. Within 12 minutes only, the cable car lifts up up to 35 people on the Renon High Plateau. In Soprabolzano, you can hop on the last narrow-gauge railway that is still in operation - the Renon Railway - taking you to Lake Costalovara beneath the museum.

The Plattner Farm is a 600 year old farmhouse that was first mentioned in written documents in 1406 AD. This farmstead features a type of farm that has become extremely rare, that is to say the accommodation wing is still connected to the farm building. The merchant family Gramm of Bolzano has painstakingly restored and changed the old farm into a museum. In this idyllic surroundings you can learn more about the history and development of beekeeping by various ancient items such as beehives, boxes, honey extractors and beeswax presses. In the open-air site with its beautiful farmer's garden, the educational trail leads along historic apiaries and information panels about the life of bees to the St. Ambrose Hill, an ideal place to take a rest.

Beside the open-air area, you can also visit the historic rooms of the farmstead, such as the court-room, the black kitchen, the hallway and the wooden Stube, all of them in their original state. The experience is completed by a visit to the small shop, where you can purchase South Tyrolean honey, jams or beeswax soap as a souvenir for home. And how to reach the Beekeeping Museum at the Plattner Farm? The Renon Railway stops at Costalovara (Wolfsgruben), also a parking space is available. From there, a path leads you in a few minutes uphill to the Plattner Farm. Furthermore, the Funimal Forest can be found in the surroundings, a beautiful hike with children.