image of grandfather and granddaughter

Grandpa visiting us in Newport, Rhode Island, 1974. I am 4.

image of grandfather with granddaughter and grandson

Grandpa, Matthew and me in Newport, Rhode Island, summer 1974.

image of woman holding a man

Mom and me shortly after my first birthday in Newport, Rhode Island, 1971.

image of a boy and girl standing together outside

My brother, Matthew, and me in 1975, just after we moved into our grandparents’ house in Carmel Valley. Behind us is the eucalyptus tree I would climb to get as close as I could to the honeybees.

image of grandfather with his grandchildren and pets

Grandpa, Matthew and me in Carmel Valley, 1976. I’m holding Harold and Grandpa is holding Rita.

image of exterior of a house

My grandparents’ little red house on Via Contenta in Carmel Valley.

image of old man sitting next two a honey bee hive

Every spring Grandpa caught honeybee swarms, like this one he scooped out of a tree in Pacific Grove in 1994.

image of an elderly husband of wife holding wine glasses

Granny and Grandpa celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in 1988.

image of a ruined bus in a forest

The honey bus. Originally built in 1951 for the fleet at the Fort Ord military base, Grandpa bought the bus from a Big Sur friend in 1963, tore out the seats and built a honey bottling factory inside. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of side view of ruined bus

The left side of the honey bus. Wooden pallets in the foreground served as stairs to the back door. The small tower in the middle ground is the propane-heated water boiler Grandpa designed to send steam in a hose to the blade of the “hot knife” he used to cut open honeycomb. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

interior of a bus showing boxes and barrels

Inside the honey bus. The honey spinner is in the foreground; behind it are two honey holding tanks with cheesecloth strainers. The Wesson Oil cans on the right were used to sell honey to customers who wanted large quantities. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of a barrel with a spinning wheel attached

The honey spinner, or extractor, used to spin honey out of uncapped honeycomb using centrifugal force. The pulleys were powered by a motor Grandpa cribbed from a lawn mower (hidden under the plastic). (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of old man lifting a honey bee frame

Grandpa lifting a frame of honey inside the bus, 1986.

image of honey bee sucking up honey

A honeybee parting its mandibles to suck up a drop of spilled honey through its straw-like proboscis.

image of old man slicing open a honeycomb

Grandpa slicing open wax honeycomb before putting the frame in the spinner, 1986.

image of a canyon surrounded by trees

The Pacific Ocean peeking through the walls of Garrapata Canyon in Big Sur, on the drive to Grandpa’s apiary.

image of a cabin in the woods

A typical cabin in Palo Colorado Canyon, Big Sur, where Grandpa made the bulk of his honey deliveries.

image of a dirty road

The dicey mountain drive to Grandpa’s beehives in Garrapata Canyon, Big Sur.

image of man wearing a bee protection suit standing next to a beehive

Grandpa in his Garrapata bee yard, mid-1960s.

image of a large party outside a two-storey wood-framed house

A family party at the Grimes Ranch, one of Big Sur’s earliest homesteads. Grandpa and his cousins kept beehives here.

image of a cow sitting in a field next to the ocean

The seaside cow pasture at the Grimes Ranch. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of two bees on top of a honeycomb

Honeybees sculpting wax honeycomb. (Photo by Kendra Luck)

image of a father and daughter sitting outside a house

When I was seven, Dad mailed a plane ticket and I flew by myself to Rhode Island to visit. We hadn’t seen each other in two years.

image of a boy and girl dressed up for Halloween

Dressed as a hound dog for Halloween, complete with a pair of my granny’s pantyhose on my head, with my ballerina-bodyguard friend Hallie at Tularcitos Elementary School.

image of grandfather and his two grandsons standing outside a saloon

A trip with our grandparents to California ghost towns, 1983. I am 13 and Matthew is 11.

image of grandfather and granddaughter playing in the snow

Playing in the snow in the Sierra Mountains, 1984. I am 14.

image of old man sitting outside surrounded by pipes and plumbing supplies

Just a small sample of the inventory Grandpa kept strewn around the yard for his plumbing business. Stray cats loved rooting for mice in his piles.

image of womand and old man inspecting a beehive

My editor and I kept beehives on the roof of the San Francisco Chronicle building from 2011 to 2014. During this time I drove to Carmel Valley often to seek Grandpa’s advice. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of different cells inside a beehive with bees crawling over them

Queen cells look like peanut shells dangling from the honeycomb. The smaller protruding cells (lower left) contain male drones, and the flat, covered cells on the right contain female worker bees.

image of old man wearing protective gear checking a beehive frame

Grandpa inspecting his backyard hives in 2012, as usual without gloves. He said he didn’t mind the occasional sting, and he also believed that bee venom prevented arthritis.

image of grandfather and grown granddaughter standing outside next to a truck

Grandpa drove several beekeeping trucks over his lifetime; this one was his last. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image ofwoman wearing bee protective gear surrounded by bees

Tending my hives at the San Francisco urban farm, Little City Gardens, 2015. I’d just transferred a new colony into an empty hive and the bees were circling to get their bearings. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of woman wearing protective gear inspecting beehive frames

Inspecting a hive for fresh eggs, which tells me the queen is doing her job. The bees store honey in the upper corners of the frame, and the brood nest is in the center. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of queen bee surrounded by worker bees inside a beehive

The queen, marked with a blue paint dot, encircled by attendants that feed, clean and caress her. (Photo by MaryEllen Kirkpatrick)

image of box next to a forest

Grandpa’s last beehive, Carmel Valley, 2015.

image of spider web

Wax moth and spider infestation inside Grandpa’s last hive. A small colony of wild bees was trying to establish itself in his abandoned equipment, 2015.

image of single bee

A forager returning to the hive with pollen granules packed into concave “pollen baskets” on its hind legs. Pollen serves as protein for the colony.

image of a man and woman hugging on a cliff next to the ocean

Hugging my brother, Matthew, after we scattered Grandpa’s ashes into the ocean from the Grimes Ranch in Big Sur, 2015. (Photo by Jenn Jackson)

image of old man smiling

Franklin Peace, 64, in his favorite deck chair, where he liked to sit and watch his bees return home in the evenings, 1990.