Beechoak Farm Montessori Pre-School
Beechoak Farm Honey
The History of Jeff's Buckfast Honey Bees
Our long standing friend Jeff Cowling transported his father’s colony of Buckfast honey bees up from his farm in Cornwall to Beech Oak Farm in the spring of 2024.
Jeff’s grandfather, Kenneth Cowling, was the original owner of the bees.
Kenneth was a school teacher in Langham, Essex. During the war in the 1940s Kenneth was not posted due to working in a school. There was a shortage of sugar in those days so that was when Kenneth started his bee hives to help with this shortage.
Things were going well until 1963 when a cold winter wiped out all the bees. Kenneth then imported bees from America and continued his passion of looking after bees and producing honey.
In 1984 Kenneth gifted a beehive to his grandson, Jeff Cowling, which started Jeff’s interest in bees at 14 years old.
In 1987 Jeff’s family moved to Cornwall. Jeff’s father Robin Cowling, who was a professional rugby coach for Exeter and former rugby player for Gloucester, Leicester and England as well as a farm owner took the bee hive with him to keep on the farm. Robin then expanded and went on to own multiple bee hives which produced lots of lovely Cornish honey!!
Due to the bees being in the family for many years
Jeff has learned how to tend to the bees and spin the honey from a very young age.
Jeff the beekeeper enjoys passing on his knowledge to us.
There are 10 busy hives and a newly built honey hut to harvest the honey.
The bees forage on a wild flower meadow and natural stream that runs along the side of the nursery here at Beech Oak Farm.
Our long standing friend Jeff Cowling transported his father’s colony of Buckfast honey bees up from his farm in Cornwall to Beech Oak Farm in the spring of 2024.
Jeff’s grandfather, Kenneth Cowling, was the original owner of the bees.
Kenneth was a school teacher in Langham, Essex. During the war in the 1940s Kenneth was not posted due to working in a school. There was a shortage of sugar in those days so that was when Kenneth started his bee hives to help with this shortage.
Things were going well until 1963 when a cold winter wiped out all the bees. Kenneth then imported bees from America and continued his passion of looking after bees and producing honey.
In 1984 Kenneth gifted a beehive to his grandson, Jeff Cowling, which started Jeff’s interest in bees at 14 years old.
In 1987 Jeff’s family moved to Cornwall. Jeff’s father Robin Cowling, who was a professional rugby coach for Exeter and former rugby player for Gloucester, Leicester and England as well as a farm owner took the bee hive with him to keep on the farm. Robin then expanded and went on to own multiple bee hives which produced lots of lovely Cornish honey!!
Due to the bees being in the family for many years
Jeff has learned how to tend to the bees and spin the honey from a very young age.
Jeff the beekeeper enjoys passing on his knowledge to us.
There are 10 busy hives and a newly built honey hut to harvest the honey.
The bees forage on a wild flower meadow and natural stream that runs along the side of the nursery here at Beech Oak Farm.
