Bee \Bee\ (b[=e]), n. [AS. be['o]; akin to D. bij and bije,
Icel. b[=y], Sw. & Dan. bi, OHG. pini, G. biene, and perh.
Ir. beach, Lith. bitis, Skr. bha. [root]97.]
1. (Zool.) An insect of the order Hymenoptera, and family
Apid[ae] (the honeybees), or family Andrenid[ae] (the
solitary bees.) See Honeybee.
[1913 Webster]
Note: There are many genera and species. The common honeybee
(Apis mellifica) lives in swarms, each of which has
its own queen, its males or drones, and its very
numerous workers, which are barren females. Besides the
Apis mellifica there are other species and varieties
of honeybees, as the Apis ligustica of Spain and
Italy; the Apis Indica of India; the Apis fasciata
of Egypt. The bumblebee is a species of Bombus. The
tropical honeybees belong mostly to Melipoma and
Trigona.
[1913 Webster]
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.]
[1913 Webster]
The cellar . . . was dug by a bee in a single day.
--S. G.
Goodrich.
[1913 Webster]
3. pl. [Prob. fr. AS. be['a]h ring, fr. b?gan to bend. See
1st Bow.] (Naut.) Pieces of hard wood bolted to the
sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays
through; -- called also bee blocks.
[1913 Webster]
Bee beetle (Zool.), a beetle (Trichodes apiarius)
parasitic in beehives.
Bee bird (Zool.), a bird that eats the honeybee, as the
European flycatcher, and the American kingbird.
Bee flower (Bot.), an orchidaceous plant of the genus
Ophrys (Ophrys apifera), whose flowers have some
resemblance to bees, flies, and other insects.
Bee fly (Zool.), a two winged fly of the family
Bombyliid[ae]. 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 (Zool.), the honey buzzard.
Bee killer (Zool.), a large two-winged fly of the family
Asilid[ae] (esp. Trupanea apivora) which feeds upon
the honeybee. See Robber fly.
Bee louse (Zool.), a minute, wingless, dipterous insect
(Braula c[ae]ca) parasitic on hive bees.
Bee martin (Zool.), the kingbird (Tyrannus Carolinensis)
which occasionally feeds on bees.
Bee moth (Zool.), a moth (Galleria cereana) whose
larv[ae] feed on honeycomb, occasioning great damage in
beehives.
Bee wolf (Zool.), the larva of the bee beetle. See Illust.
of Bee beetle.
To have a bee in the head or To have a bee 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.
[1913 Webster] beebalm
|
Bumblebee \Bum"ble*bee`\, n. [OE. bumblen to make a humming
noise (dim. of bum, v. i.) + bee. Cf. Humblebee.] (Zool.)
A large bee of the genus Bombus, sometimes called
humblebee; -- so named from its sound.
[1913 Webster]
Note: There are many species. All gather honey, and store it
in the empty cocoons after the young have come out.
[1913 Webster]
|