Honey farm makes for a sweet retirement hobby

Bruce and Regina Barnes, owners of Cowan Station Honey Farm, have turned a hobby into a full-fledged business. They are located on Elizaville Road in Cowan.

Sweet success has buzzed into the lives of a local Fleming County couple who never imagined their hobby would grow into a full-fledged business.

Cowan Station Honey Farm is located at 8904 Elizaville Road in Cowan and is owned and operated by Bruce and Regina Barnes.

The husband and wife team started with just a couple of beehives but as the years went by decided to add more.

“We started with just two hives a little over seven years ago,” Bruce said. “I enjoyed working with the bees and harvesting honey so much that I now have 20 hives,” he added.

Bruce went on to say, “After Regina and I had retired, we wanted to find something we would enjoy as a hobby, but what started as a little something to do turned into a small business. The honey we sold from those first two hives allowed us to eventually purchase the little house where we have our store. Our little adventure to sell local, raw honey has now turned into making all kinds of jams from our fruit trees and pickles and relishes from our vegetable garden,” Bruce said.

While her husband tends to the bees, Regina gathers the bounty from their garden and the two work together to produce the sparkling jars of home-grown goodness, that line the shelves of their shop.

“I didn’t think anybody would be interested in this sort of thing, I have been totally amazed by the outreach and it’s been an amazing adventure that grows every week,” Regina said.

Regina said she learned to cook from her grandmother, Ora Fern and her mother, Mary Francis Fern and uses their handed down recipes for making the jams and relishes.

From the time Regina and Bruce started the store and local folks got a taste of their homemade goodies, Regina has been in high demand for class instructions to teach everything from cake decorating to making homemade butter and the stores Facebook page has grown to more than 8,000 followers.

Customers who have visited the shop have shared the items they’ve purchased with family members world wide, which has created an interest in customers who live in Vermont and as far away as Taiwan who would love to purchase their favorites by mail order.

“We have been looking into having a website so those who live out of state or the country can purchase our products. But we want to make sure we are able to comply with all the required regulations before we take that step,” Regina said.

When you stop in at the shop you will find the shelves filled with sparkling jars of such goodies as Apple or Peach Butter, Raw Honey, Pickle Relish, Corn Relish, all kinds of Jams and Jellies as well as Sweet and Dill Pickles, all made the traditional way.

For now, just keeping the shop filled with all they have to offer keeps the couple busy enough, plus the two have recently started to make beeswax candles and handmade soaps.

“We have just started to make some beeswax candles to sell in the shop and a friend who grows lavender out on their farm in Bourbon County, have asked Regina if she could make lavender soap for them,” Bruce said. “And then they wanted to know if we could make some lavender cookies for their open house,” Bruce laughed, then added, “this little retirement hobby has really began to grow even more.”

Bruce, who grew up in Nicholas County said his mother, Nettie May Hunt Barnes, is one of their most loyal customers.

“Mom grew up in the Kendall Springs area of Bath County, she is 89 years young and still calls us up to put in her order. She lives just outside of Berea in an assisted living home and when she calls she will tell Regina to please add to her order some blackberry jam without seeds for her and her friends,” Bruce laughed.

Cowan Station Honey Farm also offers a variety of old fashioned candies that are hard to find, such as Sugar Daddy Suckers and those little drawstring bags of Gold Nugget Bubble gum.

Additionally, the shop offers handcrafted items, vintage glassware and hand painted note cards and a large helping of genuine hometown hospitality.

Bruce Barnes uses a smoker to calm the bees before checking the hives.

Jars fill the shelves in the shop in Cowan with honey and different flavors of jams and jellies. On each jar the Barnes share a Bible verse expressing their faith and belief with patrons.