Bedil. See Tin.
Bedolach. See Bdellium.
Bedstead (lU'nS, e'res, Deut. iii, 11 ; elsewhere "couch," "bed"). The couches of the Jews for re- pose and for the use of the sick were usually perhaps simply the standing and fixed divans such as those on which the Western Asiatics commonly make their beds at night. The divan is probably meant in 2 Kings i, 4 ; xxi, 2 ; Psa. exxxii, 4 ; Amos iii, 12 (Haeketfs Illus- tra. of Script, p. 58-60). The most common bedstead in Egypt and Arabia is framed rudely of palm-sticks such as was used in Ancient Egypt. In Palestine, Syr- ia, and Persia, where timber is more plentiful, a bed- frame of similar shape is made of boards. This kind
Ancient Egyptian Lattice Bedstead.
of bedstead is also used upon the house-tops during the season in which people sleep there. It is more than likely that Og's bedstead was of this description (Deut. iii, 11). In the times in which he lived the palm-tree was more common in Palestine than at present, and the bedsteads in ordinary use were probably formed of palm-sticks. They would therefore be incapable of sustaining any undue weight without being dis- jointed and bent awry, and this would dictate the ne- cessity of making that destined to sustain the vast bulk of ( >g rather of rods of iron than of the mid-ribs of the palm-fronds. These bedsteads are also of a length seldom more than a few inches beyond the av- erage human stature (commonly six feet three inch- es), and hence the propriety witli which the length of Og's bedstead is stated to convey an idea of his stature — a fact which has perplexed those who sup- posed there was no other bedstead than the divan, see- ing that the length of the divan has no determinate reference to the stature of the persons reposing on it. There are traces of a kind of portable couch (1 Sam. xix, 15), which appears to have served as a sofa for
BEDSTEAD
719
BEE
Ancient Egyptian Couch, with Head-rest and Step*.
sitting on in the daytime (1 Sam. xxviii, 3 ; Ezek. xxiii, 41 ; Amos vi, 4) ; and there is now the less rea- son to doubt that the ancient Hebrews enjoyed this con- venience. Such couches were capable of receiving those ornaments of ivory which arc mentioned in Amos vi, 4, which of itself shows that the Hebrews had some- thing of the kind, forming an ornamental article of fur- niture. A bed with a tester is mentioned in Judith
Ancient Greek Couch. From the Sculptures in Asia Minor.
xvi, 23, which, in connection with other indications, and the frequent mention of rich tapestries hung upon and about a bed for luxuriousness and ornament, proves that such beds as are still used by royal and distin- guished personages were not unknown under the He- brew monarchy (comp. Esth. i, 6 ; Prov. vii, 16 sq. ; Ezek. xxiii, 41). There is but little distinction of the
iV^A^VVVXJ<,^2iE^yvvvbrgv^T
m/MWMMmm
Modern Oriental Bed, with Canopy.
bed from sitting furniture among the Orientals ; the same article being used for nightly rest and during the day. This applies both to the divan and bedstead in all its forms, except perhaps the litter. Tbere was also a garden- watcher's bed, il3;l?p, inelunak', render-
ed variously in the Autb.Ver. "cottage" and "lodge," which seems to have been slung like a hammock, perhaps from the trees (Isa. i, 8 ; xxiv, 20). — Kitto. See Bed ; Canopy. Bee (flTD1?, deborah', Gr. piXitjaa), a gregarious insect, of the family Apidce, or- der [fymenoplera, species Apis mell'ftca, com- monly called the honey-bee, one of the most generally-diffused creatures on the globe. Its instincts, its industry, and the valuable product of its labors, have attained for it universal attention from the remotest times. A prodigious number of books have been written, periodical publications have ap- peared, and even learned societies have been founded, with a view to promote the knowl- edge of the bee, and increase its usefulness to man. Poets and moralists of every age have derived from it some of their most beautiful and striking illustrations.
The following is a mere outline of the facts ascer- tained by Swammerdam, Maraldi, Reaumur, Schirach, Bonnet, and Huber: — Its anatomy and physiology, com- prehending the antennae, or tactors, by which it exer- cises at least all the human senses ; the eye, full of lenses, and studded with hairs to ward off the pollen or dust of flowers, and the three additional eyes on the top of the head, giving a defensive vision upward from the cups of flowers ; the double stomach, the upper performing the office of the crop in birds, and regurgi- tating the honey, and the lower secreting the wax into various sacklets ; the baskets on the thighs for carry- ing the pollen; the hooked feet; the union of chem- ical and mechanical perfection in the sting ; its organs of progressive motion ; its immense muscular strength: — the different sorts of bees inhabiting a hive, and com- posing the most perfect form of insect society, from
The Honey-Bee. 1, Female, or Queen: 2, Male, or Drone; 8, Neuter, or Worker.
the stately venerated queen-regnant, the mother of the whole population and their leader in migrations, down to the drone, each distinguished by its peculiar form and occupations : — the rapidity of their multiplication ; the various transitions from the egg to the perfect in- sect ; the amazing deviations from the usual laws of the animal economy ; the means by which the loss of a queen is repaired, amounting to the literal creation of another; their architecture (taught by the great Geometrician, who "made all things by number, weight, and measure"), upon the principles of the most refined geometrical problem ; their streets, mag- azines, royal apartments, houses for the citizens ; their care of the young, consultations and precautions in sending forth a new colony; their military prowess, fortifications, and discipline; their attachment to the hive and the common interest, yet patience under pri- vate wronirs; the subdivision of labor, by which thou- sands of individuals co-operate without confusion in the construction of magnificent public works; the uses they serve, as the promoting of the fructification of