Beeftea

( Med. ) An infusion of beef, much used in debilitating maladies, and during convalescence. It may be made as follows: take 2% pounds of lean beef '; cut it in small pieces, and place it in three parts of water in an earthen pipkin; let this simmer, but never boil, until the liquor is condensed to 12 pints; then strain carefully. It ought to be entirely free from fat or grease. Beef-wood, n. See CASUARINA. Bee'-garden, n. An enclosure to keep hives of bees in. Bee'-glue, n. See PROPOLIS. Beehive, ( bē'hīve,) n. [ Bee, and A.S. hyfe, house.] A case or box in which bees are kept. They are usually made of straw or wood. The former substance is still preferred by some, the honey being liable to melt in wooden hives during hot weather. Gla hives, or hives with gla doors or windows, so as to observe the motions of the bees, are now much used, while in Greece and Turkey the hives are principally made of earthenware. The shape of a B. is not of much consequence, but it is considered of importance to have the hive so constructed as to be enlarged above or below at pleasure. B. should always be situated in the neighborhood of flowers. Honey made from heather-flowers is much esteemed in Scotland; and when the season of the heather-bloom comes on, a large number of hives are removed to the moors and hills. In Egypt, hives are removed from place to place on the Nile in barges, in order to reach the places where particular flowers are in season. The moveable comb hive, has, in this country at least, entirely replaced the antiquated straw hives, the combs are built in frames, side by side, and thus easily removed and replaced. Beehive-house, n. ( Arch.) A term applied to small, round, stone huts which are found in Ireland. They are very rudely built, and are supposed to be the relics of the most ancient architecture of the island. The doors have flat tops, and are wider down below than above, as in the buildings of Egypt. When a B.-H. is found alone, it is mostly near the site of an ancient oratory. This favors the notion that they were the dwellings of the priests. When two or three B.-H. aré clustered together, they are usually connected by a pa age, and are often underground, resembling the Picts' houses, or earth huts, found on the north-east coast of Britain. Kuins of B.-H. exist in the western islands of Scotland. Beek'man, in New York, a post-township of Dutche co., 14 m. S.E. of Poughkeepsie, watered by Fishkill Creek. Beek'mantown, or Beek'man, in New York, a post-village and township of Clinton county, on the west shore of Lake Cham plain, near the town of Platts burg. Beeld, Bield, n. A term used, in some parts of England and Scotland, to denote a place of refuge or protection. Bee'ler's Station, in West Va ., a P.O. of Marshall co. Bee'-line, n. A straight line drawn from one place to another, like the course of a bee's flight. Beelzebub, ("The Prince of the Devils," Matt . xii. 24.) ( Script .) This name is derived from Baal-zebub, an idolatrous deity among the Ekronites, signifying lord of flies, fly-baal, fly-god; whose office was to protect his worshippers from being tormented by the gnats and flies, with which that region was infested. It is som times written Beel - zebue , which signifies, probably, the dung-god. The Jews seem to have applied this appellation to Satan, as being the author of all the pollutions and abominations of idol-worship.