2. A neighborly gathering of people who engage in united labor for the benefit of an individual or family; as, a quilting bee; a husking bee; a raising bee. [U. S.] The cellar . . . was dug by a bee in a single day. S. G. Goodrich.
3. pl. Etym: [Prob. fr. AS. beáh ring, fr. b to bend. See 1st Bow.] (Naut.)
Defn: Pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through; — called also bee blocks. Bee beetle (Zoöl.), a beetle (Trichodes apiarius) parasitic in beehives. — Bee bird (Zoöl.), a bird that eats the honeybee, as the European flycatcher, and the American kingbird. — Bee flower (Bot.), an orchidaceous plant of the genus Ophrys (O. apifera), whose flowers have some resemblance to bees, flies, and other insects. — Bee fly (Zoöl.), a two winged fly of the family Bombyliidæ. Some species, in the larval state, are parasitic upon bees. — Bee garden, a garden or inclosure to set beehives in ; an apiary. Mortimer. — Bee glue, a soft, unctuous matter, with which bees cement the combs to the hives, and close up the cells; — called also propolis. — Bee hawk (Zoöl.), the honey buzzard. — Bee killer (Zoöl.), a large two-winged fly of the family Asilidæ (esp. Trupanea apivora) which feeds upon the honeybee. See Robber fly. — Bee louse (Zoöl.), a minute, wingless, dipterous insect (Braula cæca) parasitic on hive bees. — Bee martin (Zoöl.), the kingbird (Tyrannus Carolinensis) which occasionally feeds on bees. — Bee moth (Zoöl.), a moth (Galleria cereana) whose larvæ feed on honeycomb, occasioning great damage in beehives. — Bee wolf (Zoöl.), the larva of the bee beetle. See Illust. of Bee beetle. — To have a bee in the head or in the bonnet. (a) To be choleric. [Obs.] (b) To be restless or uneasy. B. Jonson. (c) To be full of fancies; to be a little crazy. "She's whiles crack-brained, and has a bee in her head." Sir W. Scott.
BEEBREAD
Bee"bread`, n.
Defn: A brown, bitter substance found in some of the cells of honeycomb. It is made chiefly from the pollen of flowers, which is collected by bees as food for their young.
BEECH Beech, n.; pl. Beeches. Etym: [OE. beche, AS. b; akin to D. beuk, OHG. buocha, G. buche, Icel. beyki, Dan. bög, Sw. bok, Russ. buk, L. fagus, Gr. oak, to eat, Skr. bhaksh; the tree being named originally from the esculent fruit. See Book, and cf. 7th Buck, Buckwheat.] (Bot.)
Defn: A tree of the genus Fagus.
Note: It grows to a large size, having a smooth bark and thick foliage, and bears an edible triangular nut, of which swine are fond. The Fagus sylvatica is the European species, and the F. ferruginea that of America. Beech drops (Bot.), a parasitic plant which grows on the roots of beeches (Epiphegus Americana). — Beech marten (Zoöl.), the stone marten of Europe (Mustela foina). — Beech mast, the nuts of the beech, esp. as they lie under the trees, in autumn. — Beech oil, oil expressed from the mast or nuts of the beech tree. — Cooper beech, a variety of the European beech with copper- colored, shining leaves.
BEECHEN
Beech"en, a. Etym: [AS. b.]
Defn: Consisting, or made, of the wood or bark of the beech; belonging to the beech. "Plain beechen vessels." Dryden.