On May 21, 1939, the mating station Hirschgrund 310 was presented in the presence of Dr. José Filler¹ and Karl Hans Kickhöffel² of the Reichsfachgruppe Imker³. It was actually the largest and most modern bee queen station at that time, the load of the young bee mothers was never lower than 2,000, in the strongest year there were 5,200, a number that you can not even imagine today. During the opening ceremony, Guido Sklenear was given the highest beekeeping honor by the two presidents, the "Silver Honeycomb".

An excerpt from the honorary certificate: "... Many thousands of beekeepers he has educated by word and writing, through his courses, his textbook and his magazine, as well as through countless letters to efficient beekeepers. So he became not only a teacher, but also a pioneering and fatherly friend for many beekeepers. As a result, Sklenar has given its amount to increase the performance of the German beekeeping. Berlin, May 21, 1939 the day of the opening of the queen mating station in Mistelbach." 
The Presidium: Filler m.p. Kick spoon m.p.

The maiting station "Hirschgrund 310" is located in a beautiful forest about 7km away from the district capital Mistelbach , on a western slope. To the name Hirschgrund: Our ancestors usually had the habit not to use fancy names as unfortunately today, but adapted these to the circumstances. (e.g., Upper Row, Creek Row, Brand Street, Coppersmithalley, etc. at street names). This peculiarity can be found in particular in the basic cadastre, such as the field names: ...meadow ... Pond .. Leading (slope) ..., etc. So is the slope on which the mating sation location is ever under registered the name Schlossleiten.

Schlossleiten - Hirschgrund two opposing things, also completely untypical. The most probable solution can be found in Guido Sklenar's life story. Sklenar was a passionate hunter and was also engaged in the breeding of hunting dogs, even in Hauskirchen. His stud dog , which he also knew well at the time, was a German shorthair called Moro von Hirschgrund . We know that there are often very close ties between animals and humans, often even more so when such an animal becomes a true companion. Guido Sklenar is most likely to have a memorial to his faithful hunting companion with the naming (310 is the bib number).

Already on April 25, 1939, Ecological Councilor Guido Sklenar received the following certificate of recognition:
" The breeder: Mr. Ökonomierat Guido Sklenar in Mistelbach near Vienna is hereby on the basis of the breeding regulations of the Reichsfachgruppe beekeepers (Establishment of the German Queen Breeding No. 1 The Breeding Law) recognized as a purebred and is listed in the list of Breeders of the Reichsfachgruppe under No. 101. Breeding tribe: K Sklenar 310 "Berlin, May 20, 1939 & nbsp; & nbsp; Chairman f. d. Breeding beings of the Reichsfachgr. Beekeeper e.V .: Himmer Reichsverband German Kleinterzüchter, Rfg. Beekeeper The Executive President: Kickhoeffel

In the years 1939 and 1940, the matings tation was directed by Ecumenical Councilor Guido Sklenar himself. 1941 Dir. Josef Käßmayer, afterwards Hans Glanner and between 1947 to 1984 OSR. Dir. Hans Weber. From 1985 to 2014, Hirschgrund was directed by master beekeeper Anton Schleining. From 2015 on, master beekeeper Hans Fuchs was head of the mating station. In spring 2021 master beekeeper Franz Obendorfer has been appointed head of Hirschgrund station by the Lower Austrian Beekeeping Association.

Thousands and thousands of mated queens have since left Hirschgrund, flying and flew not just across Europe, but in all other parts of the world as well. (Even in Sklenar's lifetime, queens were even shipped to Japan.)

¹ Dr. Filler was executive president of the Reichsverband of German Small Animal Breeders.

² Kickhöffel was President of the German Beekeeper Association (DIB) before the Nazi restructuring and then executive President of the Reichsfachgruppe beekeeper.

³ The Reichsfachgruppe beekeeper was after the "Gleichschaltung" in Nazi Germany socialism the successor organization of the German beekeeper's association (DIB).

Content largely researched by Ing. Karl Stangel (chairman of the Sklenarbund), kindly compiled and made available by master beekeeper Anton Schleining. Revision and addition of master beekeeper Ing. Franz Obendorfer.

Here you can watch a short video clip of one of our visits to check queens in the year 2018.