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ORAL HISTORY
George Watkins - Beekeeper
Watkins’ Tupelo Honey
George Watkins’s family has been in the Apalachicola area since the late nineteenth century. They’ve witnessed the sponge trade, the loading of cotton boats, and a booming seafood industry. When George was a kid, his grandfather took him fishing every weekend. He put George in a boat when he was eight years old. Right then, George knew he wanted to be a fisherman. Over the years he has harvested just about everything the bay has to offer. But one day George decided to take up beekeeping. He says it was because he just liked honey. Like everything else George does, he threw himself into beekeeping with a passion. He started small, but soon he was the top tupelo honey producer in the area. For George, it’s not just about the tupelo. It’s about the river that nourishes the trees that make the blossoms that make the bees make such wonderful honey.
