pillars, at f 



BEE-MOTH. 



pillars, at first are not thicker than a thread, 

 they have sixteen legs. Their bodies are soft 

 and tender, and of a yellowish white colour, 

 sprinkled with a few little brownish dots, from 

 each of which proceeds a short hair ; their 

 heads are brown and shelly, and there are two 

 brown spots on the top of the first ring. Weak 

 as they are, and unprovided with any natural 

 means of defence, destined, too, to dwell in the 

 midst of the populous hive, surrounded by 

 watchful and well-armed enemies, at whose 

 expense they live, they are taught how to 

 shield themselves against the vengeance of 

 the bees, and pass safely and unseen in every 

 direction through the waxen cells, which they 

 break down and destroy. Beeswax is their 

 only food, and they prefer the old to the new 

 comb, and are always found most numerous in 

 the upper part of the hive, where the oldest 

 honey-comb is lodged. It is not a little won- 

 derful, that these insects should be able to get 

 any nourishment from wax, a substance which 

 other animals cannot digest at all; but they 

 are created with an appetite for it, and with 

 such extraordinary powers of digestion that 

 they thrive well upon this kind of food. A^ 

 soon as they are hatched they begin to spin; 

 and each one makes for itself a tou^h silken 

 tube, wherein it can easily turn around and 

 move backwards and forwards at pleasure. 

 During the day they remain concealed in their 

 silken tubes ; but at night, when the bees can- 

 not see them, they come partly out, and devour 

 the wax within their reach. As they inciease in 

 size, they lengthen and enlarge their dwellings, 

 and cover them on the outside with a coating of 

 grains of wax mixed with their own castings, 

 which resemble gunpowder. Protected by this 

 coating from the stings of the bees, they work 

 their way through the combs, gnaw them to 

 pieces, and rill the hive with their filthy webs ; 

 till at last the discouraged bees, whose dili- 

 gence and skill are of no more use to them in 

 contending with their unseen foes, than their 

 superior size and powerful weapons, are com- 

 pelled to abandon their perishing brood and 

 their wasted stores, and leave the desolated 

 hive to the sole possession of the miserable 

 spoilers. These caterpillars grow to the length 

 of an inch or a little more, and come to their 

 full size in about three weeks. They then spin 

 their cocoons, which are strong silken pods, of 

 an oblong oval shape, and about one inch in 

 length, and are often clustered together in great 

 numbers in the top of the hive. Some time 

 afterwards, the insects in these cocoons 

 change to chrysalids of a light brown colour, 

 rough on the back, and with an elevated dark 

 brown line upon it from one end to the othep: 

 When this transformation happens in the au- 

 tumn, the insects remain without further 

 change till the spring, and then burst open 

 their cocoons, and come forth with wings. 

 Those which become chrysalids in the early 

 part of summer are transformed to winged 

 moths fourteen days afterwards, and immedi- 

 ately pair, lay their eggs, and die. 



Bees suffer most from the depredations of 



these insects in hot and dry summers. Strong 



and healthy swarms, provided with a constant 



supply of food near home, more often escape 



22 



BEET. 



than small and weak ones. When the moth- 

 worms have established themselves in a hive, 

 I their presence is made known to us by the lit- 

 tle fragments of wax and the black grains 

 I scattered by them over the floor." 



BEESTING or BIESTING, written also, 

 BEESTNING (Flem. bi&st, biestmelch}. The 

 ! first milk taken from cows after calving. It is 

 thick and yellow. This milk is commonly in 

 j part taken away from the cow upon her first 

 calving, lest, when taken in too large a quan- 

 tity by the calf, it should prove purgative. 



BEET ( Lat. beta / Celt, belt, red ; also said to be 

 so named from the Greek character beta, which 

 its seeds resemble when they begin to swell). 

 The sweet succulent root of Beta vulgar is, a 

 chenopodiaceous plant of biennial duration. 

 It is used in the winter as a salad, for which 

 purpose the red and yellow beets of Castelnau- 

 dari are the best ; for the food of cattle, that 

 which is named mangel worzel being most 

 used; and for the extraction of sugar, a white- 

 rooted variety with a purple crown is the most 

 esteemed. Sea beet (Beta mar iti ma} is a well 

 known and excellent substitute for spinach. 

 (Bnmile'a Diet, of Science, p. 139.) 



The genus beta comprehends several bien- 

 nial |p ' ler euuuu-raU-s live. 1. The 

 c.'inmnn white beet. 2. The common green 

 beet. 3. The common red beet. 4. The turnip- 

 rooted red beet. 5. The great red beet. 6. The 

 yellow beet. 7. The Swiss, or chard beet. 

 We have now nine varieties of this esculent, 

 which are described with considerable discrimi- 

 nation by Mr. Morgan, gardener to H. Browne, 

 Esq., Mimms Place, Herts. (Hurt. Trans. 

 vol. iii.) Of the red beet, Mr. Morgan enume- 

 rates seven varieties ; of these, the three fol- 

 lowing are generally chosen for cultivation : 

 1. The long-rooted, which should be sown in a 

 deep sandy soil. 2. The short or turnip-rooted, 

 better adapted to a shallow soil. 3. The green- 

 leaved, red-rooted, requiring a depth of soil 

 equal to that of the long-rooted There are 

 two distinct species of beet commonly cultivat- 

 ed, each containing several varieties ; the one 

 called Cicla or Hortensis, or white beet, produc- 

 ing succulent leaves only, the other the red 

 beet (Beta vulgaris); distinguished by its large 

 fleshy roots. 



The white beet is chiefly cultivated in gar- 

 dens as a culinary vegetable, and forms one 

 of the principal vegetables used by agricultu- 

 ral labourers, and small occupiers of land in 

 many parts of Germany, France, and Switzer- 

 land. A variety known by the name of Swiss 

 chard produces numerous large succulent 

 leaves, which have a very solid rib running 

 along the middle. The leafy part being 

 stripped off and boiled is useful as a substitute 

 for greens and spinach, and the rib and stalk 

 are dressed like asparagus or scorzenera; they 

 have a pleasant, sweet taste, and are more 

 wholesome than the cabbage tribe. In a good 

 soil the produce is very abundant ; and if cul- 

 tivated on a large scale in the field, this species 

 would prove a valuable addition to the plants 

 i raised for cattle. By cultivating it in rows, 

 , and frequently hoeing and stirring the inter- 

 i vals, it would be an excellent substitute for a 

 .fallow on good light loams. All cattle are 

 P 169 



