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BEE

health ; because it receives the first rays of the sun, that beneficentluminary, which, more regularly than a time-piece, awakens’theman of a sound body and mind, while he animates, invigorates,and incites him to rise, after having retread himself by repose,llesides, a moderate degree of heat, thus orally imparted, maybe more easily endured, and modified, it necessary, by variousmeans, than a moist and pernicious atmosphere, which even thedry air of summer cannot easily correct. For similar reasons,small closets and Concealed beds are extremely injurious, espe.~cially to young people and invalids. When persons are fromnecessity obliged to sleep in them, it will be adviseable everymorning, immediately after rifing, to displace all the bed-clothes ;and, if the sky be serene, to open the door and windows, in orderto purify the stagnant air of so confined a resting-place : but wethink it, on the whole, a dangerous practice to sleep with openwindows, whether at night, or in the day-time ; though a verysmall aperture, without admitting a current of air to pass throughthe room, may occasionally be useful. Nor should the bed-stead be placed near a wall; or soiled linen be rutiered to remainin an.apartment w here the purity of the air is of the first impor-tance. A bed, or couch, ought to stand free on all its sides, and, ifpossible, in the middle of the chamber: which is farther of conse-quence to timid individuals, who tremble during the prevalenceof a tempest, or thunder-storm. We know from experience, thata flash of lightning, should it unfortunately strike a building, orenter through any of the windows, uniformly takes its directionalong the walls, without injuring the furniture in the centre of aroom.

BEDSTEAD, a frame for supporting a heel. Among thevarious materials used for bedsteads, iron is not only the most du-rable, but also the most beneficial, with respect to health. Oak isexcellent for this purpose, being almost impervious to worms, iffelled in the proper season, and allowed to become drv ; but ce-dar, were it not for its strong odour, would be still more effica-cious in preventing the inroads of bugs, or other vermin. Hencethe beams and posts of a bedstead, made of any hard wood, mightbe inlaid with cedar. Mr. Lambert, of Berwick-strect, Soho, hasinvented a bedstead for the sick and wounded, which he termsthe Koval Patent Fracture Bed, and which is ably calculated toalleviate the painful situation of the aged, the infirm, or diseased.It deserves to be noticed, that the prevailing custom of providingthe bedsteads of children wfith curtains is liable to strong andserious objections: 1. because they prevent a free access of airfor the renewal of that mass which has been rendered unfit for re-spiration ; 2. They endanger the lives of infants bv candle-light,from which fatal accidents have frequently happened ; and 3. Theyare pernicious receptacles for the finest particles of dust, whichare inhaled by the person confined within such curtains, on the leastmotion of the bedstead: and thence, perhaps, many young andblooming innocents may date the first period of their consumptiveattack \Ve do not, however, mean to insinuate, that curtainsought to be universally abandoned, as there may occur a varietyof instances, in which the laws of propriety and decorum, miglitrender them useful and necessary.

BED-TIME, or that period of the evening or night, when weretire to enjoy the necessary repose. Although it would be diffi-cult, in the present irregular state of society, to lay down rules forthe proper time of resorting to that place which suspends andmakes us forget our daily troubles and cares; yet, when we con-sider the subject, with regard to its influence, as well on the healthas the moral character of man, it is deserving of the most seriousdiscussion. Much, indeed, depends on the arrangement of theday, and the different pursuits of the individual. Those personswho spend the greater part of their time in useful labour, and havesufficient muscular exercise, would better consult their health, In-retiring to repose at leant two or three hours before midnight";which) according to the oldest and most accurate observers, arenearly as refreshing as double that portion in the morning. Those,however, who lead an idle and luxurious life, are too much theslaves of fashion, habit, and caprice, to adopt any useful changes,which might abridge their amusements or imaginary comforts. Onthe other hand, the studious, and especially speculative persons,cannot comply with what are generally called “ regular hours;” be-cause their pursuits are better adapted to the solemn stillness ofnight, while they indulge in reflections which require a connectedwries of thought, and reasoning, uninterrupted by the noise of

day. Yet, even literati and artists, ought to pay due attention tothis important circumstance, that the atmosphere of the night isalways more vitiated, and consequently less fit for respiration,than that of a serene day ; and as we respire a greater portion of airwhile awake, than in a sleeping state, it follows that the systemmust be more injured in the former than in the latter case. Norwould it be proper to retire to rest immediately after a full meal,or in an agitated state of mind. Hence, two hours after a lightsupper ought to elapse, in order to prepare ourselves for an invi-gorating repose, ami banish all gloomy or depressing ideas andthoughts which require mental exertion. For the same reason,we should remove from our sight every object which may irritatethe nerves, and never adopt that pernicious practice of reading,till we fall asleep—an imprudence of which many young andthoughtless persons are guilty. Instead of such a dangerous expe-dient, it would be more salutary to walk up and down the roomfor a few minutes, or to take any other gentle exercise. La-.tly,we are of opinion, that such individuals as breakfast at nine, dine-at two, and drink tea at six; or, instead of this, eat a light supperbetween seven and eight o’clock, might with the greatest benefitto their health, retire to bed at ten, and rise at five or six o’clock •in the morning, or earlier, according to tire degree of exercise theyhave taken on the preceding day. Dom. Encyr.

BEE, Apis, A. meUilica, or domestic honey-bee, is particularlyworthy of attention. See Aris. A hive of bees may be consi-dered as a populous city, containing from fifteen to eighteen thou-sand inhabitants. This city is in itself a monarchy : composed ofa queen; of males, which are the drones ; and of working bees.See Plate VII. The combs are composed of pure wax, serving asa magazine for their stores, and a place to nourish their young.Between the combs there is a space sufficient for two bees to marchabreast; and there aie also transverse defiles, by which ti e beescan more easily pass from one comb to another. The queen-beeis distinguishable from the rest, by the form of her body and short-ness of her wings. She is unwieldy, and seldom leaves the parent-hive: when she goes to settle a colony, all the bees attend her tothe place she chooses. A hive of bees cannot subsist- without aqueen, as she produces their numerous progeny ; hence their at-tachment to her is unalterable. When a queen dies, -the bees im-mediately cease working, consume their honey, lly about at un-usual hours, and eventually pine away, if not supplied with anothersovereign. The death of the queen is proclaimed by a clear andinterrupted humming, which should be a warning to the owner toprovide the bees with another queen, whose presence will restorevigour and exertion : of such importance is a sovereign to (lie ex-istence and prosperity of this community. M. Huber by repeat-ed experiments confirms the curious discovery of M. Schirach,that when bees are deprived of their queen, they have the powerof selecting one or two grubs of workers, from which they producequeens, by making for them larger cells, and supplying them witha larger quantity of food, and food more pungent than that givento the common larvas. It is computed that the ovaria of the queen-bee contain upwards of live thousand eggs at one time, hence it isprobable that she may produce from ten to twelve thousand beesin the space of two months. The dissection of the drone affordsas great a proof of its being the male, as that of the queen does ofher being a female. Drones are smaller than the queen, andlarger than the working-bees; and when on the wing, they makea greater noise. Their office is to impregnate the eggs of thequeen, after thev are deposited in the cells; but when this is ef-fected, as they become useless to the hive, they' are destroyed bythe working-bees, without the power of resistance, as they have nosting. After the season of .the increase of the bees is past, and.when they attend to the collection of winter-stores, every vestigeof the drones is destroyed, to make room tor honey. Indeed,when the latter are observed in a hive late in autumn, it is a bailsign. Several kinds of working-bees w ere distinguished by theancients. Columella coincides- with Virgil, in preferring thosewhich are small, oblong, smooth, bright or shining, and of a’gcntledisposition: the superior utility of this species has”been establishedbv experience. Working-bees compose the most numerous bodeof the state.. They have the care of the hive ; collect, the wax andhoney ; fabricate the wax into combs; feed the young ; keep thehive clean ; expel all strangers; and employ themselves-ii> pro-moting general prosperity. 'The working-bee has two stomachs ;one to contain .the honey, and another for the crude wax. The

working-