1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



561 



was at Westminster College, Pa. The next 

 we know of liim in connection with bees was 

 at the county fairs of Northern Ohio. On 

 these occasions he astonished the natives by 

 having a swarm of bees hanging from his hat 

 and beard. This series of remarkable feats 

 was accomplished by having a queen caged 

 under his chin ; and as long as she remained 

 the bees continued to hang from his head, to 

 the wonder of the aforesaid natives. It is not 

 told that he was ever stung, except on one oc- 

 casion, when he says he very foolishly attempt- 

 ed to put some of those gentle, fly-like bees 

 in his mouth. The incident resulted in his 

 being stung in the throat, and from that time 

 on he never attempted the feat again. 



At this time Mr. Wilkin's home was at 

 Cadiz, Ohio. From this point he attained 

 considerable celebrity as a bee master ; and so 

 many were the questions that were plied him 

 that he finally, to answer all, wrote a book of 

 100 pages, entitled " Hand-book on Bee Cul- 

 iure," which at the time, 1871, had a consider- 

 ble sale. 



Just what induced him to go to California 

 is not stated. Possibly the success of Harbi- 

 son, who had preceded him, had much to do 

 with it ; but after he had gone to the coast in 

 1875, with his family and a carload of bees, 

 and had produced those enormous yields of 

 sage honey in the now celebrated Sespe Api- 

 ary, his celebrity, which had hitherto been 

 only local, was made world-wide. Here he 

 produced honey by the carload, and sold in 

 the London markets for a number of years. 



His largest yield was in 1884, when he pro- 

 duced from his Sespe Apiary 60,000 lbs. of 

 honey. The largest number of colonies he 

 had in this yard at one lime was 700. Such a 

 number managed profitably, in one apiary, 

 seems, to an Eastern bee keeper, almost incred- 

 ible. But to one who has just come from the 

 location, as I have, with its great mountains 

 on every side, and the orange groves in the 

 valley, the number does not seem so impossi- 

 ble of belief after all. Indeed, to see is to be- 

 lieve. 



In later years the Sespe Apiary has been oc- 

 cupied by hisson-in law, J. F. Mclntyre ; and 

 during all the years this location has support- 

 ed on an average 500 colonies. 



Mr. Wilkin, even up to the time of his 

 death, retained a deep interest in bees ; and, 

 though his success in life had been such that 

 it was no longer necessary for him to work, 

 yet at the time of his death he was managing 

 an apiary at Newhall, Cal., some 450 colonies, 

 I believe. 



A few days before his death he had sent me 

 a pressing invitation to visit him, saying that, 

 although he had got to be an old man, there 

 was much that he wanted to talk to me about 

 on bees, and it was with no little surprise and 

 sorrow that, on arriving at Los Angeles, I 

 learned of his short illness and death. 



Although well advanced in years, when 

 most old men lose interest in the business of a 

 lifetime, Mr. Wilkin retained all the enthusi- 

 asm of youth. His love of bees seemed to be 

 as strong as ever ; and even up to the last 

 days his mind seemed to possess all the vigor 



of his earlier years. A college graduate, it is 

 said of him that he was " a close and profound 

 thinker." 



His daughter, Mrs. Mclntyre, who had been 

 called to his bedside at his last illness, told 

 me recently that he seemed to count much on 

 my visit, and at the time had no thought but 

 that he would get well. Among other things 

 he told her that, when I came, he would show 

 me some old brood-combs that he got of Adam 

 Grim that were 30 years old, and which at the 

 time were still in use, rearing bees that were 

 full size. Evidently he had no faith in the 

 late dogma that old combs raise small bees, 

 and should, therefore, be melted up. 



Mr. Wilkin was twice elected President of 

 the California State Bee-keepers' Association, 

 and in all the doings of that organization was 

 a prominent and conspicuous figure. There 



R. WILKIN. 



is many a present-day bee-keeper in the State 

 who will remember the kindly services per- 

 formed for them by our departed friend ; and 

 although he is gone he will not be forgotten. 



N. B. — For the main facts of this write-up I 

 am indebted to his daughter, Mrs. Mclntyre, 

 who, I judge, must, in years gone by, have 

 been an efficient helper to her father. At a 

 later time I shall have occasion to refer to my 

 visit to the Mclntyre's, all of whom, includ- 

 ing the baby, are bee-keepers, from the 

 ground up. 



This is written on the train, en route to 

 Fresno, Cal., and if Mrs. Mclntyre finds any 

 inaccuracies it will be because this jiggelty- 

 joggelty trcffei has jiggelty-joggled my memo- 

 ry. 



