CHILDREN from Dursley enjoyed the sweet taste of business success when they sold out of their premium honey in minutes at Wycliffe Preparatory School.

The honey came from the Stonehouse school’s two hives which form part of the activities for the Grow and Cook Club.

All 15 jars of the honey, at £4 a jar, sold out within 30 minutes with buyers queuing up at the school’s Christmas fair to get hold of the golden treat.

Though the children do not handle the hives themselves they learn about the importance of bees and spin and sell the honey. They created the labelling, marketing campaign and manned the sales stall.

The weekly Grow and Cook Club for pupils from year five to eight proved so popular that there is a waiting list for children to join.

It was the brainchild of teacher Ruairidh Gaunt who wanted to help raise the awareness of growing your own food, how to eat healthily and demonstrate that cooking is fun.

“It’s important that pupils start to learn to cook, a skill they will need for life rather than rely on the bland expensive ready meals,” he said.

The children’s weekly club does a range of activities, from learning how to churn butter and cook with it to making soup from the vegetables they have grown. The school has an orchard with 20 fruit trees and vegetable and herb beds.