"Hard work and I have always been extremely good friends.'' Such words may seem strange coming from a 65-year-old man who made a conscious decision to sell his highly successful business last year, but Randolph Furbert, Jr. has never been one to twiddle his thumbs, and "retirement'' is simply not in his lexicon.

So while he now has a "staff'' of thousands, with "offices'' scattered throughout the Island, at least he can visit them in peace, free of the stresses, interruptions and phone calls he faced as a businessman.

Mr. Furbert continues to rise early and retire late, as he has always done, but his new life brings him inordinate pleasure for it is the continuation of a love affair he has had for more than 30 years.

Like his father before him, he is an avid beekeeper.

What started as a hobby with the purchase of three hives three decades ago and subsequently turned into a thriving sideline, is now slated to become even greater as he and his son John continue to work side by side in the business known as Chartwell Apiaries -- "named after Sir Winston Churchill's country home you know'', he notes.

"I was so thankful to have John working alongside me at Rafur Trucking Services for 20 years. He was a real source of strength as we saw the business grow and grow, but he and I both agreed that we would finalise the business last year and do something together,'' Mr. Furbert relates. "It is so pleasing to have a father-son relationship.'' As one of 11 children born without silver spoons in their mouths, Mr. Furbert attributes his success in life to fundamental lessons learned at his parents' knees.

"I was the eldest child, and we were brought up on a farm where work was the order of the day. We were raised out of our beds early to look after lots of animals before we had breakfast, so getting up early in the mornings has been second nature to me all my life, and I am thankful for that. The early bird catches the best worm,'' he says.

Just how Rafur (a combination of his first and last names) became emblazoned on a fleet of trucks, and a household word, goes back to 1968 when Mr. Furbert was hired by Bermuda Aviation Services as a supervisor in the freight shed at the inception of air cargo handling.

His previous experience and business background in supervisory management made him the ideal candidate, but these qualities would also shape an independent business future.

"Two years after working there I realised that air freight was going to be way of the future, and I could see where people really needed a better service over the counter,'' the entrepreneur relates.

A chance conversation with a gentleman who was retiring led to the deal which changed the course of his career forever.

"He had an open truck, which I agreed to rent for $100 a week, so on May 25, 1970 I entered the trucking business, which I named Rafur Services Ltd.,'' Mr.

Furbert explains. "It was a success from day one because I always believed that if you put your shoulder to the wheel and were prepared to work hard success would follow. It wasn't long before I had two trucks, and before I knew it I had five and 11 men.'' Although the business lost some of its lustre during the late 1980s when competition from container shipping handling put a dent in air freight as the favoured method of importation, the prudent Mr. Furbert trimmed his operation accordingly, and kept on trucking.

"I have always believed that no successful businessman makes a success working 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,'' he says of the venture. "It's the time before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. that spells success.'' Looking back over those years, Mr. Furbert remembers with fondness the young men whose lives he influenced.

"I am thankful to God that I had the privilege of training many young boys who came through the business, and teaching them the importance of hard work,'' he says.

So what was it, exactly, that made him decide to sell his business at 65, when he had never seen retirement from trucking as an option? "With the new computer age coming into being, and not being computer literate, I decided I didn't need to confuse my mind at this stage in life,'' he responds.

Mr. Furbert also recognised that the constant growth of his beloved hobby, beekeeping, and the production of honey, was demanding more and more of his time, so he sat down with son John, weighed up his options, and together they decided to settle for a new life at The Honey House.

"Bees are not only a hobby but profitable because we market honey anywhere food is sold, and also at tourist outlets,'' Mr. Furbert notes. "At Christmas-time, we have a roadside stand where we encourage people to buy honey for gifts. It makes the sweetest present you can buy.'' It takes but moments in and around The Honey House to realise that the man who openly admits "I could talk about bees all day'' takes his fascination with the five-eyed, four-winged, six-legged, two-antennaed honey factories very seriously indeed.

Immaculate stainless steel tanks and vats, huge drums, hoses and pipes, stacks of wooden hives, cartons of bottles in all shapes and sizes, labels and more attest to an operation which is carefully planned and well developed.

Here history also repeats itself. Mr. Furbert notes with pride that a group of boys, who first began helping him at The Honey House on Saturdays when they were very young, are still with him, and have become as skilled as he has at beekeeping.

"Most of them are still in school, but some are 19-20. I have always wanted to turn the skills over to young people, and it has been a privilege to teach them,'' he says.

The office doubles as a mini-museum and includes bottles of honey from around the world, plus one given to him 45 years ago by his father which is still good. There is also a fascinating collection of candles and objets d'art made by himself and others from beeswax, as well as reference books, videos, souvenirs, photographs, charts and plaques.

"Old beekeepers never die, they just buzz off,'' says one plaque; another proclaims, "The person who knows everything has a lot to learn,'' and a third says: "It's nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice.'' Pride of place is given to a large glassed observation hive on a swivel base in which hundreds of bees make their home, with a direct passage through the wall to the outside world. The device not only provides an up-close glimpse of the cleverness of these creatures, and the exquisiteness of their construction work, but also a dynamic learning tool when taken into schools.

"A lot of people don't realise we can't live on Earth without bees,'' Mr.

Furbert says. "They do a much bigger job than just producing honey. They pollinate vegetation so we can get better and more fruit and vegetables. In fact, anything from the bee is good for you, even the sting, which is medicinal. It's the best thing you can get for arthritis.'' For those who don't fancy this "treatment,'' however, the keeper says his winged friends only sting if threatened, and the best way to avoid the experience is to expect to be stung! He also reveals a litany of interesting bee lore, including the fact that beeswax is four times more valuable than honey, and in its lifetime one bee produces just 1/12th of a spoonful of honey.

"The bee is one of God's creatures that never ceases to fascinate me,'' he confesses.

Asked if his wife Gail shares this fascination, he smiles and replies: "She doesn't get into bees. She sells the honey and gets the money!'' Beyond The Honey House, hives are strategically placed not only throughout the property, which also sports a typical banana garden, but throughout the Island, "from Clearwater to Cavello Bay''.

Harvest times for honey are the second day of Cup Match, and the end of October, and what many gardeners regard as a nuisance tree -- the Mexican pepper -- is actually the most invaluable in the honey-producing chain.

This week, the father-of-three (his other son, Paul, is in top management at Cable & Wireless, and daughter, Mrs. Heather Roberts, is a senior cosmetologist at Shapers) and John will travel to yet another convention, this time in California and Hawaii, where once again they will swop experiences and information on beekeeping, and enjoy the universal bonding that means so much to both of them.

"My second love is travelling, and my bees have taken me all over the world,'' Mr. Furbert says proudly.