BEE 
ployed the pen of many ingenious and learn- 
ed authors of all ages ; the subject however 
is, like nature, inexaustible, and, like her, 
perhaps, beyond the reach of human talents 
fully to comprehend, or satisfactorily to ex- 
plain. Dr. Hutchinson’s theory of beauty 
ascribes it to “ uniformity amidst variety,” 
(see “Hutchison’s Inquiry”) but another 
writer (see “Reid’s Essay on the Intellectual 
Powers of Man,” ch. iv.) observes that beau- 
ty is found in things so various and so very 
different in nature, that it is difficult to say 
wherein it consists, or what can be common 
to all the objects in which it is found. Ho- 
garth, in his “Analysis of Beauty,” considers 
the elements of beauty to be fitness, va- 
riety, uniformity, simplicity, intricacy, and 
quantity : whereas Mr. Burke in his “ In- 
quiry respecting the Sublime and Beauti- 
ful,” excludes from the number of real 
causes of beauty, the proportion ot parts, 
fitness, or that idea of utility which consists 
in a part’s being well adapted to -answer its 
ends, and also perfection. 
Opinions so contradictory may well jus- 
tify the hypothesis that beauty is more rea- 
dily felt than described ; and we may set 
down contented that we receive light and 
heat from the sun, although ignorant whe- 
ther it proceeds from a burning orb or a 
huge stone. 
As the attainment of beauty is a princi- 
pal aim of the fine arts, the subject will 
necessarily again fall under discussion as con- 
nected with each of them in particular. See 
Arts, Fine, Poetry, Painting, Draw- 
ing, Sculpture, Engraving, Dancing. 
BECHERA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Digynia class and order. Calyx 
five-cleft, superior, with a globular tube; 
coral five-petal’ed ; capsule two-celled, two- 
valved. One species. 
BECKETS, in sea language, any thing 
used to confine loose ropes, tackles, or 
spars in a convenient place ; hence beckets 
are either large hooks, or short pieces of 
rope with a knot on one end, and an eye in 
the other ; or formed like a circular wreath ; 
or they are a sort of wooden brackets. 
BEE. See Apis. 
Bees, management of. It is agreed by 
the most judicious observers that the apiary, 
or place where bees are kept, should face 
the south, and be situated in a place neither 
too hot nor too much exposed to the cold ; 
that it be near the mansion-house on ac- 
count of the convenience of watching them ; 
but so situated as not to be exposed to 
noisome smells, or to the din of men or cat- 
BEE 
tie ; that it be surrounded with a wall, 
which, however, should not rise above three 
feet high ; that, if possible, a running stream 
be near them; or if that cannot be, that 
water be brought near them in troughs, as 
they cannot produce either combs, honey, 
or food for their maggots, without water : 
and that the garden in which the apiary 
stands be well furnished with such plants as 
afford the bees plenty of good pasture. 
Furze, broom, mustard, clover, heath, &c. 
have been found excellent for this purpose. 
Hives have been made of different materials , 
and in different forms, according to the 
fancy of people of different ages and coun- 
tries. Not only straw, which experience 
now proves to be rather preferable to every 
thing else, but wood, horn, glass, &c. 
have been used for the construction of them. 
Single box hives, however, when properly 
made answer very well, and when painted 
last long. They have several advantages 
above straw hives, they are quite cleanly, 
and always stand upright; they are proof 
against mice, and are cheaper in the end 
than straw hives, for one box will last as 
long as three of them. They are, however, 
rather colder in winter ; but a proper cover- 
ing will prevent all danger from that quar- 
ter. Straw hives are easiest obtained at 
first, and have been used and recommended 
by the best of bee-masters. If the swarm 
be early and large it will require a large 
hive, but if otherwise, the hive should be 
proportionably less. If the bees appear to 
want more room, it can easily be enlarged 
by putting a roll or two below it; but if it 
be heavy enough for a stock hive it will do, 
although it should not be quite full of combs. 
Any person (says Mr. Bonner) who in- 
tends to erect an apiary must take particu- 
lar care to have it filled with proper inhabi- 
tants. He must be peculiarly attentive to 
this, as all his future profit and pleasure, or 
loss and vexation, will, in. general, depend 
upon it. He must, therefore, pay the ut- 
most attention to the choice of his stock- 
hives ; for the man who takes care to keep 
good stock-hives will gain considerably 
by them; but he who keeps bad ones, 
will, besides a great deal of trouble and 
little or no success, soon become a 
broken bee-master. In September every 
stock hive ought to contain as much honey 
as will supply the bees with food till June 
following; and as many bees as will pre- 
serve heat in the hive, and therefore resist 
the severity of a cold winter, and act as so 
many valiant soldiers to defend the comrau 1 - 
Kk ti 
