We really are a local family business in Eckington, just me and my girl helped along by my mum Brenda and brother Roger and lovely friends in busy times.
I’m Linda or Leggy Linda to friends, my daughter is Maddison Honey (that really is her name).
I always did a runner from bees as a child but my love of all things nature and gardening soon changed my bee dance dash!
I then started to adore these fascinating creatures and admire the way they always seemed to have a mission, dashing from flower to flower determined yet seemingly happy though how could I know that .....or is it they made me feel happy and indeed that is what they did and do.
My love of bees intensified by one of those ‘life changing’ adventures....the ones you dream of experiencing. I was fortunate enough to travel to Iceland in 2016 after signing up for the Fabulous Challenge to raise funds for CoppaFeel who are a breast cancer awareness charity who's mission is to spread awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer across the country.
We all trekked along the Landmannalaugar route, one of the most actively volcanic areas in the country, hiking through the lava fields and glacial landscape for a 58km challenge with a whole bunch of inspirational guys and gals camping under the stars guided by our two celebrities, Chloe Madeley and Vicky Pattison, I was in Team Vicky!
One day we were all sat on a hill top having a breather eating lunch and I looked around and all I saw was beauty but all I heard was silence which was lacking the buzz. I then declared ‘I really miss bees’!! Much laughter ensued from the group but I knew right then I would return to UK and learn more about these fascinating creatures.
Being a northerner living in Sheffield and Derbyshire I’ve often spent weekends and days in Manchester and it’s a city that has always captured by heart, the vibe, the people and of course the Manchester Bee!
On 22 May 2017 the worst terror attack in the UK since 7/7 took place at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The worker bee, mostly referred to as the Manchester bee, has come to proudly symbolise the city's past and came to represent the city's indomitable spirit following this tragic attack. Thousands had this Bee tattoo with proceeds being donated to the support fund.
I proudly have my bee tattoo (my Manchester Bee) on my right wrist.
So, fast forward to 2018, I decided to retire early from my long career in BT, I did the Beekeeping course, read the books, met fellow beekeepers before acquiring my hive, then another and another and so the business was born.
We needed a name and that came courtesy of Maddison who declared Bear Cool Honey Company because we have Bears (Newfoundland Dogs to be precise) that’s another story but Bear Cool It stayed.
I like mottos in life including ‘find a pub you like and stay there’ so we ‘found a name we liked and kept it’.
Our passion is bees and helping them to survive happy and healthy with the result being wonderful honey which we are fortunate enough to now sell.
We care about our planet at Bear Cool so I also wanted to support ethical fair trade products so sell a range of stunning gifts from shared earth.
We also sell a wide range of bee gifts and bee related products from lip balms to photo frames, to raise awareness of bees and how important they are to our planet, if the bees all die they’ll take us with them!
Honey bees pollinate an estimated one-third of all the food crops we consume
We need to love our universe as it will love us right back.