Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/479

 BEE BEECH 459 small pieces of the wood, which she carries to a short distance and drops for future use, re- turning by a circuitous route as if to conceal its location ; the direction of the tunnel is ohlique for about an inch, a-nd then perpendic- ular in the axis of the wood for 12 or 15 inches, and half an inch in breadth ; sometimes three or four such excavations are made. The tun- nel is divided into cells somewhat less than an inch deep, separated from each other by par- titions made of the chips and dust cemented together ; some other species employ clay for these partitions. At the bottom of the cell is placed an egg, and over it a paste of pollen and honey ; in this way are completed 10 or 12 cells, one above the other, and then the prin- cipal entrance is closed by a similar sawdust covering. As several weeks are occupied in these labors, and as the bee deposits her eggs at considerable intervals, it is evident that the first egg will have become a perfect insect before the last egg has left the grub state ; in order to enable the young to escape as they are hatched, each cell has a lateral opening. Among the leaf-cutting and upholstering bees may be mentioned the poppy bee (oimia papa- veris, Latr.), a European species, one third of an inch long, of a black color, with reddish gray hairs on the head and back, and the abdomen gray and silky. She excavates a per- pendicular hole in the ground, largest at the bottom, which she lines with the petals of the scarlet poppy cut into oval pieces, and adapted with the greatest nicety and smoothness ; the hole is about 3 inches deep, and the lining ex- tends externally on the surface ; filling it with pollen and honey to the depth of half an inch, she deposits ah egg, folds down the scarlet tapestry, and fills above it with earth ; it is rare to find more than one cell in an excava- tion. The rose-leaf cutter {megachile centun- cularu, Latr.) makes a cylindrical hole in the hard earth of a beaten path, from 6 to 10 inches Kose-Leaf Cutter and Nest (Megachile centuncularls). deep, in which she constructs several cells about an inch deep, thimble-shaped, and made with circular pieces of leaves neatly cut out and folded together ; the rose leaf is preferred, but almost any leaf with a serrated margin, as the birch and mountain ash, will be taken ; no cement is employed, the elastic property of the leaves keeping them in place ; it takes 9 to 12 pieces to make a single cell, which, when com- pleted with its contents of pollen and honey, and single egg, is closed with three pieces of leaf exactly circular ; the convex extremity of one cell fits into the open end of the next, by this means greatly increasing the strength of the fabric. BEE, a S. county of Texas, drained by the Aransas and Mission rivers and their tributa- ries; area, 900 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,082, of whom 69 were colored. The soil is sandy and poor, and little rain falls in summer. Stock and sheep raising is the principal industry, though some corn is raised. In 1870 there were 260 horses, 78 milch cows, 8,346 other cattle, 1,860 sheep, and 365 swine. Capital, Beeville. BEECH, a forest tree of the genus fagm of Endlicher's order cupuliferte, Lindley's coryla- ce<e, Jussieu's quercinete, and of the Linntsan Beech Tree (Fagus sylvatlco). class mon&cia polyandria. The generic charac- ters of the genus are : sterile (male) flowers ament globular, pendulous on silky thread; perianth 6-cleft, bell-shaped ; 5 to 1 2 stamens. Fertile (female) flowers 2 within a 4-lobed prickly involucre ; perianth 4 to 5-lobed ; ovary 3-celled (2 abortive) ; styles 3 ; nut one-seeded, triangular, enclosed in a cupule which com- pletely covers it. Some branches bear male, others female flowers. The number of species is very limited, some being considered as mere varieties. In the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, on both continents, there are extensive forests consisting of beeches, which also occur mixed with oaks, pines, firs, &c. F. syfoatica, the common European white beech, has the leaves ovate, acuminate, slightly toothed, ciliate on the margin, acute at base ; nut ovate, 3-sided, obtuse, pointed. Of this the American is taken to be a variety, growing in Florida and other southern states. F.ferru- ginea, or red beech, has the leaves oblong