Tarlton Rayment

Who was Tarlton Rayment?

Percy Tarlton Rayment FRZS was an Australian artist, author, broadcaster, poet, naturalist, entomologist and beekeeper. He is especially renowned for his extensive pioneering studies of Australia’s native bees.

Apart from numerous papers and articles in the entomological literature and in natural history journals and popular magazines, books authored by Rayment include:

1916 - Money in Bees in Australasia. Whitcombe & Tombs: Melbourne..

1933 - The Prince of the Totem. Robertson & Mullens: Melbourne..

1935 - A Cluster of Bees. Endeavour Press: Sydney..

1937 - The Valley of the Sky. Ivor Nicholson & Watson: London..

1945 - Eagles and Earthlings. A metrical tribute to the air crews in the war. Author..

1946 - Profitable Honey Plants of Australasia. Whitcombe & Tombs: Melbourne..

1953 - Bees of the Portland District. Portland Field Naturalists Club.

Although Rayment is currently best remembered as a person who wrote expertly about bee-keeping in Australia, he spent a considerable amount of time with the Aruntja people of Central Australia. He had no formal training as an anthropologist, but his wide-ranging intelligence was a good alternative to such training.