Wearing a white protective jacket, mesh veil and gloves, Laurence Hope of Hanford lifts the top off a wooden, white box and, using a beekeeper's smoker, sprays puffs of smoke at the bees crawling below. He waits a moment for the bees to calm down, then begins lifting up frames of honeycomb to inspect the bees' latest work.

"It calms them," Hope said of the smoke. "When you get into the hives where the babies are, they get a little defensive."

He seems unconcerned with the recently disturbed bees that are flying around him or the gobs of bees crawling on the frame of honeycomb in his hand.

He puts the frame back into the hive, and moves on to the next white box, and the next, checking the status of the hives, which are stacked in white and pink wooden boxes in a corner of a friend's large backyard outside the city limits.

Hope, a beekeeping hobbyist and owner of Hanford's Pet Stop, has over 30 hives he maintains in the Lemoore and Hanford area. Beekeeping has been Hope's hobby for 2-1/2 years.

"It's a way of working with nature -- it's peaceful," said Hope. "The peace and tranquility of working with nature in a natural environment -- it brings us closer to the land."

Sources vary as to when beekeeping began; some say 4,000 years ago, others 7,000. Evidence of beekeeping can be found in ancient Egyptian tomb art. Early gatherers used honey as a sweetener, food for their gods and to make medicines and ointments. Beeswax was used by the Egyptians for mummification and shipbuilding. Now beekeepers keep bees for various reasons -- from the honey, beeswax, bee pollen, and honeycomb the hives provide, to the pollination of crops.

Greek philosopher Aristotle, actor Henry Fonda and lifestyle expert Martha Stewart are among some famous beekeeping hobbyists in history.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates there are between 139,600 and 212,000 beekeepers in the United States. Locally, 15 beekeepers are registered in Kings County, according to the Kings County Agricultural Commission office. Although registered here, they can take their hives to other counties.

Hope became interested in the hobby through his stepson, Wayne, who is also a beekeeping hobbyist.Wanting to work with his own hives, Hope laid down $100 for a 16-by-20-inch hive full of honeybees and $200 for beekeeping equipment -- which included a beekeeper's smoker, full protective suit and tools.

Using some basic information on beekeeping he obtained from his stepson, Hope set about working with his hive.

Overall his first experience went great.

"I liked it. I was pleased by what I was seeing and doing and that's when I decided to get more hives," Hope said.

One week after getting his first hive, he purchased eight more from a Manteca beekeeper.

"When I got my first hive, I realized that it took me longer to put my suit on and get my smoker going than it did to take care of the hive, so I said, 'well, why not have two or three that I can work at the same time' ... and that's really what got me off to wanting multiples."

However, he did have to learn some things about the hobby the hard way.

Hope remembers a time when he was moving the hives in the middle of the night, and was stung multiple times.

"Nobody told me you don't open a bee hive in the middle of the night," he said.

But getting stung is something he's grown to expect, prepare for.

"If you're going to keep bees, you're going to get stung, but it's normally fairly minimal, if you prepare for it," he said. "Some people do foolish things and that was a foolish thing on my part that time."

He said while working with bees, you learn a lot of little things along the way.

"You learn to gently work the hives, in slow motion, kind of like Tai Chi movements; you learn how to use smoke effectively when you need smoke and when you don't," he said.

With experience, he learned what makes bees happy and what doesn't.

"Like with sudden drops in temperature bees will get feisty. It's best if you can leave them alone for a couple days, but if you can't, you've got to prepare for what you got to do," he said.

The amount of time a beekeeper spends on his hobby can vary.

"You can spend as little or as much as you want," Hope said.

He said he spends about 10 to 15 hours a week on the hobby, doing everything from checking the status of the hives, splitting hives, (making one hive into two), switching out the queens to make a hive more productive, or moving hives to different hives or locations.

Sometimes in fall or spring, he feeds the bees sugar water or pollen patties. Bees also gather their own nectar (sugary water) and pollen (yellow protein powder) from flowers.His hives, which he keeps in four locations around Hanford and Lemoore, produce enough honey that he has his own business, "His Hive Honey Farm."

He collects, packages and sells bee pollen, beeswax, honey, and honeycomb. The products all sit on a shelf by the register at his Hanford pet store. He's been putting his profits from the products into expanding the number of hives.

He hopes the business will help support him when he retires.

"It can be a good retirement income supplement," Hope said. "It gives you something to do also."

He also rents out his bees to farmers who use them to pollinate their crops.

Beekeepers harvest their honey in late spring to early fall, depending on regional plants' blossoming times.

His wife, Virginia, approves of his hobby.

"It's really a fascinating hobby," Virginia Hope said, "and it's healthy. It has a lot of physical activity to it and the outcome is healthy. We eat the honey instead of white sugar," she said.

Laurence Hope, who is a member of South Valley Beekeepers, said he'd be willing to help people interested in the hobby get started. Those interested can contact him at his pet store on Irwin Street.

"It's just a wonderful hobby for somebody, and you get some production to eat, give away to your friends, Christmas presents, sell it if you have enough," Hope said.

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3052

(Sunday, July 22, 2007)