[opensuse] RE: enourmous number of compressed files under .beagle subdirectory under users home directory Open SUSE 10.2

My home directory contains the hidden file /.beagle . There is a subdirectory named TextCache. It currently hold 155 Subdirectories each with aprox 180 .Gzip files. This is an enormous amount of HDD space and there appears no limit to the size it will grow. Can anyone tell me its purpose. I use a KDE standard Menu and I only use beagle as a search for text on a page in OO or Firefox. Is there any way I can curb this mass invasion of files being written. I am loath to delete any files are there is a .DB (guess) primary index file at the bottom of the TextCache Directory. Many Thanks Scott