SAN MARINO 1974 10 LIRA SLOVENIA 1993 50 STOTINOV BEE COMMEMORATIVE 2 COIN SET Bees have been producing honey as they do today for at least 150 million years. Bees produce honey as food stores for the hive during the long months of winter when flowers aren't blooming and therefore little or no nectar is available to them. European honey bees, genus Apis Mellifera, produce such an abundance of honey, far more than the hive can eat, that humans can harvest the excess. For this reason, European honey bees can be found in beekeeper's hives around the world! These 2 coins from central Europe celebrate that small yet important mighty dynamo -- the bee. photos enlarged to show details Coin diameters are 16mm and 24 mm. San Marino is an enclave in central Italy about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC. It is the third smallest independent state in Europe after the Holy See and Monaco. It is reputed to be the world's oldest republic. San Marino was founded by a Christian stone mason named Marino in 301 A.D. Slovenia is slightly smaller than New Jersey and borders on Italy, Austria, Croatia, and the Adriatic Sea. The Slovene lands were part of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria until 1918 when the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new multinational state, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, Slovenia became a republic of the renewed Yugoslavia, which though Communist, distanced itself from Moscow's rule. Dissatisfied with the exercise of power by the majority Serbs, the Slovenes succeeded in establishing their independence in 1991 after a short 10-day war. Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy have assisted in Slovenia's transformation to a modern state. Slovenia acceded to both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.