Hello my lovely friends!
Brrrrrr! I hope you’re all keeping warm during this chilly weather! As the days get shorter and colder you may not see many honey bees flying around anymore. But don’t worry, we are still awake and looking after ourselves. You see, during the winter, honey bees – unlike bumblebees – don’t hibernate. There are still around 10,000 of us in each hive here in The Alnwick Garden, and we need to keep the temperature of the hive above 20˚C to stay alive. To do this we huddle very close together in a very tight ball and shake our muscles quickly to produce heat – very similar to when your teeth chatter or you rub your hands to keep warm! It’s not too late to give us a helping hand for next year either. We love spring flowers, and now is the perfect time of year that you can plant the bulbs. A bulb is like a little pocket of energy, just ready to give a fantastic show of colour before most other plants. Crocuses, snowdrops, scillas, grape hyacinths and snakeshead fritillaries are our favourites. Remember to plant them roughly three times the depth of the actual size of the bulb. You can get bulbs for all positions in the garden, and you can even plant them in the lawns or under trees and they can give a stunning show year after year. I promise you, you’ll like them almost as much as us… Goodbye, stay warm and think of us in the hive – clustered and cosy! Bonnie. Queen Bee of The Alnwick Garden For full information, please visit The Alnwick Garden website: www.alnwickgarden.com.
BEE FACT OF THE MONTH There have been bees on Earth for over 30 million years – that’s a very long time!
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Primary Times Sunderland & Durham
Putting on a pantomime with help from the experts. A North East arts venue, renowned for is popular Christmas show, is giving families, schools and community groups across the region free help in putting on their own pantomime – oh yes they are!. The Customs House, South Shields has created a special computer programme, aptly-named Panto Maker, which guides users step-bystep through writing, designing and performing their own festive show.
tackle curriculum-based subjects and achieve key skills across key stages one to four. Many of these resources are free to download with others being offered as part of a small annual subscription charge – which includes all regular updates.
The software is available to download free for PC from ch-arted.co.uk or at a cost of £1.49 as an Ipad app. This is the latest in a series of similar resources created by The Customs House in partnership with Shoofly Publishing, which offer an enjoyable and interactive way for children to For more information visit www.ch-arted.co.uk or call 0191 427 8197/88