The Watkins Meter Company was a manufacturer of photographic light meters in Hereford, England. It was founded after Alfred Watkins received a patent on its light meter in 1890. The standard meter was first manufactured by R. Field & Co. of Birmingham; Watkins Company took over production around 1900. The meter exposes a small area of a strip of light-sensitive paper, which darkens with exposure. The time it takes the sensitive paper darkened to match the tint of the edge of the slot is the third input parameter to calculate the optimum exposure time for a given f-stop and speed of the plate, with the help of calculating scales of the instrument. The last Watkins Bee Meter is smaller and has the shape of a pocket watch, but the principle is the same. It exposes a small area of a disc in a slot sensitive paper. several special versions of the Bee [1] meter occurred, including luxury models Queen Bee, Studio e Indoor scaled for lower light, a model Focal Plane scale the shutter speed fast hand, models plates autochrome and other means of color, for cinematography, and meters that incorporate a compass or a Swiss chronometer in the case. These models differ mainly in scales and the fixed dye with the sensitive paper compared. The simplest model, the Snipe, is for cameras without varying shutter speed and simply determines if there is enough light to take a photograph. Wynne's Infallible meters are very similar in style and start to the Bee meters. Watkins continued to produce meters until the mid-1930s. Watkins also sold some timers and other darkroom.