Love of beekeeping brings Montgomery Co. family together

POTOMAC, Md. - Combining the love of bees, honey and lots of curiosity.

That’s what a young man in Montgomery County named Colin Kennedy is doing while helping to give back to the community.

His father’s passion for nature, the environment and what it can produce, is what helped the family launch C’s Bees, named lovingly after the 21-year-old.

The company is a recently established family owned, honey making business that Colin now leads as CEO.

"He has some limitations in his abilities and I wasn’t sure what his job future would look like, so having all this ground we started keeping bees," said Colon’s dad, John Kennedy, who has been preserving bees at his Potomac home for the past 12 years.

The older Kennedy said, his own love and interest for preserving bees, rubbed off on his son, bringing them even closer in their relationship and something that he says they can enjoy doing together.

"My wife and I have always been his advocates you know?" said Kennedy.

"We had somebody tell us early on that, ‘If you don’t advocate for him and try to help him you really can’t expect anybody else to do it,’ so we have tried to create opportunities for Colin," he added.

Colin has been such an inspiration to his whole family that his cousin, Alexis Doyle, a Pre-K teacher, wrote a book about his love for bees, while noting how her cousin helps his dad protect nature and the environment.

"I work with all different kinds of kids and I get to see some challenges they have," said Doyle.

"Knowing Colin for 21 years, I have been able to see just how much he’s had to overcome and just how much he is able to do," he added.

The honey and the book aren’t quite on the market yet ,but when the products begin to sell, a portion of the sales will be given to various organizations that the family says have helped Colin with his disabilities.

"I think the take away is, focus at home," Kennedy said. "Concentrate on your family but also have an eye on the world and try to make it a better place."