The bees soon get accustomed to this new place of entrance. The plan has, it is said, often proved an effectual security against the worm, after every other remedy has failed.

produced through the moth. Some of the most | bees in going out and returning to the nive intelligent apiarians put their chief trust in the strength of the swarms, and when these become reduced and weak, unite them so as to enable the bees to defend their hive against intruders. Placing boxes for wrens near the apiary is also strongly recommended, and with good reason, since these little birds are very active in catching all kinds of moths. To enable the wren to get under the hive, it has been recommended to raise these an inch or an inch and a half above the stand, by means of small blocks.

Some persons have contrived drawers under the hives into which the millers enter by night. The drawers are slipped out every morning, and the moths found in them destroyed.

In the western country and in the new settlements of the Atlantic states, the bee-moth is rarely met with.

Bees, Italian. --For an account of Italian honey-bees, and their first introduction into the United States, and first announcement in this Encyclopædia of the Movable-Comb-Hive, see article HONEY, (page 631.)

BEE-MOTH. The following interesting details relative to the natural history of the beemoth or wax-moth, are from Dr. Harris's Treatise on Destructive Insects. This pernicious insect belongs to a group called Cambrians, and was well known to the ancients, as it is mentioned under the name of Tineu, in the works of Virgil and Columella. "In the winged state, the male and female differ so much in

Another plan frequently adopted, and, it is said, with much success, consists in placing, early in the evening, a burning lamp in a pail, near the hive-stand. Some fresh honey or molasses and water may be spread upon the bottom as a bait. A keg with only one head is thought preferable to a pail for this purpose, owing to the curvature of the staves, which serves to prevent the insect from flying out so readily, and before it has met its destruction from the flame of the lamp. A small fire kept up early in the evening near the apiary is also frequently resorted to for attracting and destroying the night-flying miller. Placing shal-size, colour, and in the form of their fore-wings, low vessels containing sweetened water, with cne gill of vinegar added for each pint, is said to attract and drown the moths in great numbers. Shutting up the apertures for the exit and entrance of the bees, early in the evening, is also advised, as the moth intrudes itself in the evening and night. But when this is done the apertures must be opened again very early in the morning. When millers are numerous, each hive should be raised at least twice a week, upon one side, and the worms sought for and destroyed. In this operation a puff of smoke under the hive keeps the bees quiet during the search, which should be performed with as little jarring or disturbance to the swarm as possible.

that they were supposed, by Linnæus and by some other naturalists, to be different species, and accordingly received two different names. (Tortrix cereana, the male; Tinea mellonella, the female.) To avoid confusion, it will be best to adopt the scientific name given to the bee-moth by Fabricius, who called it Galleria cereana, that is, the wax Galleria, because in its caterpillar state it eats beeswax. Doubtless it was first brought to this country, with the common hive-bee, from Europe, where it is very abundant, and does much mischief in hives. Very few of the Tinex exceed or even equal it in size. In its perfect or adult state it is a winged moth or miller, measuring, from the head to the tip of the closed wings, from five-eighths to three quarters of an inch in length, and its wings expand from one inch and one-tenth to one inch and four-tenths. The male is of a

A correspondent of the Farmer's Register recommends, that as soon as the bees commence working in the spring, the hives are to be examined, and with a piece of hoop-dusty gray colour. The female is much larger iron or other suitable implement, the stand well scraped immediately under the hive, especially around the inner edge of the box. The whole secret of keeping off the moth consists, he thinks, in keeping the hives free from the web formed by the moth. After this operation, four small blocks of wood are to be placed under each corner of the hive so as to raise it not quite half an inch from the stand. This will permit the hive and stand to be cleaned without raising the box. This scraping operation must be repeated every three or four days, especially if there be any appearance of web. In winter the blocks must be removed, and the hive let down upon the stand as a security against mice, and other depredators upon the honey. The person who recommends this plan as a certain security against the ravages of the worm, advises that an entrance be made for the bees, by cutting a perpendicular slit, one-eighth of an inch wide and two and a half inches long, situated about halfway from the bottom. Just under this a small snelf is to be placed as a resting-place for the

than the male, and much darker coloured. There are two broods of these insects in the course of a year. Some winged moths of the first brood begin to appear towards the end of April, or early in May; those of the second brood are most abundant in August; but between these periods, and even later, others come to perfection, and consequently some of them may be found during the greater part of the summer. By day they remain quiet on the sides or in the crevices of the bee-house; but, if disturbed at this time, they open their wings a little, and spring or glide swiftly away, so that it is very difficult to seize or to hold them. In the evening they take wing, when the bees are at rest, and hover around the hive, till, having found the door, they go in and lay their eggs. Those that are prevented by the crowd, or by any other cause, from getting within the hive, lay their eggs on the outside, or on the stand, and the little worm-like caterpillars hatched therefrom easily creep into the hive through the cracks, or gnaw a passage for themselves under the edges of it. These cater

tnan small and weak ones. When the moth worms have established themselves in a hive, their presence is made known to us by the lit tle fragments of wax and the black grains scattered by them over the floor."

BEESTING or BIESTING, written also, BEESTNING (Flem. biest, biestmelch). The first milk taken from cows after calving. It is thick and yellow. This milk is commonly in part taken away from the cow upon her first calving, lest, when taken in too large a quantity by the calf, it should prove purgative.

BEET (Lat.beta; Celt. bett, 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 vulgaris, a chenopodiaceous plant of biennial duration. It is used in the winter as a salad, for which purpose the red and yellow beets of Castelnandari are the best; for the food of cattle, that which is named mangel worzel being most used; and for the extraction of sugar, a whiterooted variety with a purple crown is the most esteemed. Sea beet (Beta maritima) is a well known and excellent substitute for spinach. (Brande's Dict. of Science, p. 139.)

The genus beta comprehends several biencommon 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 discrimination by Mr. Morgan, gardener to H. Browne, Esq., Mimms Place, Herts. (Hort. Trans. vol. iii.) Of the red beet, Mr. Morgan enumerates seven varieties; of these, the three fol

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 wonderful, 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. As soon as they are hatched they begin to spin; and each one makes for itself a tough silkennial species. Miller enumerates five. 1. The 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 cannot see them, they come partly out, and devour the wax within their reach. As they increase 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|lowing are generally chosen for cultivation: their way through the combs, gnaw them to pieces, and fill the hive with their filthy webs; till at last the discouraged bees, whose diligence and skill are of no more use to them in contending with their unseen foes, than their superior size and powerful weapons, are compelled 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 other. When this transformation happens in the autumn, 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 immediately 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

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 greenleaved, red-rooted, requiring a depth of soil equal to that of the long-rooted. There are two distinct species of beet commonly cultivated, each containing several varieties; the ons called Cicla or Hortensis, or white beet, producing succulent leaves only, the other the red beet (Beta vulgaris); distinguished by its large fleshy roots.

The white heet 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 Switzerland. 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 specie. would prove a valuable addition to the plants raised for cattle. By cultivating it in rows, and frequently hoeing and stirring the inter vals, it would be an excellent substitute for a fallow on good light loams. All cattle are

part of the manure intended to be applied, according to the richness of the soil near the surface, with the bottom split, so as to bury it ten or twelve inches within the ground. Salt is a beneficial application to this crop, one reason for which undoubtedly is, their being natives of the sea shore. Both species are propagated by seed, and may be sown from the close of February until the beginning of April: it being borne in mind that they must not be inserted until the severe frosts are over, which inevitably destroys them when in a young stage of growth. The best time for inserting the main crop of the beet root for winter supply is early in March; at the beginning of July or August, a successional crop of the white beet may be sown for supply in the winter and fol

fond of the leaves of this beet, which add much | rooting vegetables, and to turn in the whole or to the milk of cows, without giving it that bad taste which is unavoidable when they are fed with turnips or cabbages, and which is chiefly owing to the greater rapidity with which the latter undergoes the putrefactive fermentation. If sown in May, in drills two feet wide, and thinned out to the distance of a foot from plant to plant in the rows, they will produce an abundance of leaves, which may be gathered in August and September, and will grow again rapidly, provided a bunch of the centre leaves be left on each plant. They do not sensibly xhaust the soil. These leaves when boiled or steamed with bran, cut with chaff or refuse grain, are an excellent food for pigs or bullocks | put up to fatten. (Penny Cyclo. vol. iv. p. 158.) The white beet is an excellent root, and is preferred by many to the larger and more com-lowing spring. mon intermediate varieties. It has lately been in great repute in France and Belgium, and indeed all over the continent of Europe, for the manufacture of sugar. The process is given in detail by Mr. Samuel Taylor in the sixth vol. of the Gardener's Magazine; and there are some able articles, entering extensively into detail on the subject, in the Quart. Journ. Agr. vol. i. p. 624, and vol. ii. pp. 892 and 907. (For an account of the common field beet for cattle, see MANGEL WURZEL.)

It is best sown in drills a foot asunder, and an inch deep, or by dibble, at the same distance each way, and at a similar depth, two or three seeds being put in each hole: it may, however, be sown broadcast and well raked in.

During the early stages of its growth, the beds, which, for the convenience of cultivation, should not be more than four feet wide, must be looked over occasionally, and the largest of the weeds cleared away by hand. In the course of May, according to the advanced state of their growth, the beds must be cleared thoroughly of weeds, both by hand and small hoeing; the beet roots thinned to ten or twelve inches apart, and the white beet to eight or ten. The plants of this last species which are removed may be transplanted into rows at a similar distance, and will then often produce a finer and more succulent foliage than those re

be preferred for performing this operation: otherwise, the plants must be watered occasionally until they take root: they must be frequently hoed and kept clear of weeds throughout the summer.

It is a great improvement to earth up the stalks of the white beet in the same manner as celery, when they are intended to be peeled, and eaten as asparagus.

BEET, WHITE (Beta cicla). This is also known as the chard, or carde. We have two species in common cultivation, the green and the white. They receive their names from the colour of their footstalks; but the variation is considered by some as fugitive, and that both are produced from seed obtained of the same plant: but this the experience of Mr. Sinclair denies. The French have three varieties of the white-the white, the red, and the yellow-maining in the seed bed. Moist weather is to which only differ from ours in having a larger foliage, and thicker, fleshier stalks, but they are less capable of enduring frost. They are cultivated for their stalks, which are cooked as asparagus. Mangel wurzel is sometimes grown for the same purposes; but as it is much inferior, the notice that it may be thus employed, is sufficient. Beets require a rich, mouldy, deep soil; it should, however, be retentive of moisture, rather than light, without being tenacious, or having its alluminous constituent too much predominating. Its richness should preferably arise from previous application than from the addition of manure at the time of sowing; and to effect this, the compartment intended for the growth of these vegetables is advantageously prepared as directed for celery. On the soil depends the sweetness and tenderness of the red and yellow beets, for which they are estimated; and it may be remarked, that on poor, light soils, or heavy ones, the best sorts will taste earthy. Again, on some soils the better varieties will not attain any useful size, or even a tolerable flavour, whilst in the same compartment inferior ones will at tain a very good taste. The situation should be open, and as free from the influence of trees as possible; but it is of advantage to have the bed shaded from the meridian sun in summer. I have always found it beneficial to dig the ground two spades deep for these deep

In October, the beet-root may be taken up for use as wanted, but not entirely for preservation during the winter until November or the beginning of December, then to be buried in sand in alternate rows, under shelter; or, as some gardeners recommend, only part at this season, and the remainder in February; by this means they may be kept in a perfect state for use until May or June. If prevented running to seed, they will produce leaves during the succeeding year; but as this second year's production is never so fine or tender, an annual sowing is usually made. For the production of seed some roots must be left where grown, giving them the protection of litter in very severe weather, if unaccompanied with snow; or if this is neglected, some of the finest roots that have been stored in sand, and have not had the leaves cut away close, may be planted in February or March. Each species and variety must be kept as far away from the others as possible, and the plants set at least