Wild Bees, Social & Solitary
  Most people are familiar with the social bees: Hive Bees and Bumble Bees (which used to be called "Humble Bees"). Social bees live in colonies with a queen who does the egg-laying, accompanied by a large number of workers (infertile females) who do most of the work of constructing and provisioning the nest, and some drones (males), whose only function is inseminate the next generation of queens. Hive Bee colonies can live over winter, but in a Bumble Bee colony the old queen and all the workers die in the autumn leaving only the new queens to hibernate and start new colonies from scratch the next spring. There are six species of Bumble Bees which commonly visit gardens as well as being widespread in the countryside:
  White-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lucorum, with two yellow bands: one on the thorax and one on the abdomen and a white tail.
  Buff-tailed Bumblebee B. terrestris, similar, but with a brown tail in the queen. (Unfortunately, workers of both have white tails.)
  "Garden" Bumblebee B. hortorum, the yellow band on the abdomen extends onto the thorax, with a white tail.  (It is not really any more associated with gardens than the others.)
  Early Nesting Bumblebee B. pratorum, two yellow bands and a red tail.
  Red-tailed  Bumblebee B. lapidarius, all black with a red tail.
  Carder Bumblebee B. pascuorum, sandy coloured.
  The Carder Bumblebee nests above ground, by weaving together a ball of moss or dead grass, whereas the others usually nest below ground, often down mouse holes, as Beatrix Potter's Mrs. Tittlemouse discovered to her indignation. These six species of Bumblebees have adapted to garden flowers and are common in parks and gardens everywhere. This is good news, but unfortunately some other species, which used to be common but depended on our long-lost flower-rich hay meadows, have become rare and are no longer seen in Cumbria. There are also several species of Cuckoo Bumblebees .They have no workers; a female takes over the nest of another bumblebee and the workers rear her young instead of their own.
  Less well known are the much larger number of solitary bees, of which there are about 200 species in Britain. They range in size from about that of a honey bee to tiny species so small that they are not easily recognisable as bees at all.  Each female makes a simple nest consisting of only a few cells. In the case of Leaf-cutting Bees the cells are arranged in line in a tunnel in soft wood. If you find neat circular and oblong pieces cut out of the rose leaves in your garden this will be the work of Leaf-cutting Bees, which use the oblong pieces for the sides of their cells and the round pieces to plug the ends. Each cell is lined with a waterproof secretion and provisioned with a paste of nectar and pollen. Mason Bees make their cells of mud in a cavity. In Mining Bees the cells are grouped like a bunch of grapes at the end of a tunnel excavated in the ground. An egg is laid, then the cell is sealed and left for the egg to hatch, and the larva to develop, pupate and emerge as an adult - often not until the next year, by which time the previous adults have died. Provided, that is, that a cleptoparasitic "Nomad Bee" has not sneaked in to lay its own egg, which will hatch first so that its larva will eat the host's egg and then develop on its food. Nomad Bees (Nomada spp.), which look very like wasps, have few hairs, make no nests and collect no pollen. Throughout the world of bees, wasps and ants we find species which work hard to provide for their offspring and others which do no work and cash in on their labours.
  In our garden at Natland, the first solitary bees to appear in the Spring are the Tawny Mining Bee Andrena fulva, accompanied by its Nomad parasite Nomada panzeri, and the Early Mining Bee Andrena scotica, which looks very like a Honey Bee, and its parasite Nomada marshamella, which looks like a wasp with orange legs. The Early Mining Bee has a habit of flying in through transom windows, and, if you find what looks like a Honey Bee on the inside of a window, it is very likely to be this species. Honey Bees do not make this kind of mistake.
  Later in the year we have the Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa, and the Common leaf-cutting Bee Megachile centuncularis,  but the most intriguing is the Wool-carder Bee Anthidium manicatum. This bee is unusual in that the male stakes out its territory over a patch of flowers, its favourite being Lamb's-ears Stachys lanata, around which it hovers, chasing away any other bees, to keep this patch for his own female(s). Male bees do not have stings, but this male has five spines on his tail which he uses to prod any interlopers. The females crop off little balls of woolly hairs from the undersides of the leaves and "card" this material into a kind of felt which they use to make the walls of their cells. If you have Lamb's -ears in your garden - look out for this bee!
  People often ask what they should do to attract insects to their garden. The answer is that you do not need to do anything special (and do not be conned into buying bumblebee nest boxes, they are not interested). You only need to look to see what is there. If you have a selection of flowers in your garden you will certainly be visited by a range of bumblebees and solitary bees (in addition to honey bees). I have seen 16 species of wild bees, social and solitary, in mine.                                                                                                                                                               Neil Robinson

for visitor accommodation businesses
  Our information day at the People's Hall in November was a great success. People from around 30 existing and potential B&Bs and self-catering establishments were very pleased with the useful information they received from 20 advisory bodies and suppliers. Advisory bodies included the Inspection and Advisory Service, Northwest Farm Tourism Initiative, Environmental Health and Fire Safety. Suppliers included Steadman's Butchers, Powell Fruit & Vegetables and Fairground fair trade supplies. Jackson & Graham Chartered Accountants provided accountancy advice. Jonathon Perkins from Cumbria Tourist Board gave a talk on marketing. Kath Milburn from Sedbergh won a colour TV in the prize draw. The day was arranged in collaboration with Sedbergh Booktown Ltd and Sedbergh Tourist Information Centre and supported by funding from Cumbria Community Foundation, Cumbria Tourist Board and Cumbria County Council.
  As a result of the day we are pleased to be able to offer two courses to further assist accommodation businesses. Please ring Sedbergh CDC on 015396 21031 for further information;
  Welcome Host is a one day course about how to provide excellent customer service for your guests. Find out how to maximise your business by learning what customers are looking for and how to attract and retain them. Participants will receive a certificate and will be eligible to use the Welcome to Excellence Logo on their stationery. The course will be held on Thursday 16^th February and the cost will be £55 (a £30 reduction on the normal national rate).
  CIEH Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene is a 6 hour course over two evening (27^th February and 6^th March). Formally called Basic Food Hygiene this certificate is issued by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and is valid for 3 years. This is a vital course for anyone who handles food for the public, so take this opportunity to gain or renew your certificate. The cost of the course is £42. You may be eligible for a grant of £30 if you are in a tourism business.                                                                                                                                                                     Chris Wood

Band News.
  Having taken the baritone horn up only twelve month ago Richard Mason has progressed through the beginners class to making his first public appearance with the full band at this year's Christmas Concert.
  Two of the youngest members of the band, ten year old twins Henry and Sam Wray are to be congratulated on being awarded places with the Children's Under 14 Brass Band of Great Britain.  Henry (Euphonium and trombone) and Sam (baritone horn) successfully negotiated an audition at The University of Sunderland in the face of stiff and talented opposition and will be joining a special summer camp this year.
  The twins put their success down to the inspiration of their brass teacher at Sedbergh School Junior School, Stuart Shields, their usual school lessons and the weekly rehearsals with the Sedbergh Town Band.

  The children of Sedbergh Primary School were treated to and enjoyed an African drumming Session with Zozo Shuiabu before Christmas.
  Zozo worked with children of all ages introducing them to African rhythms through dance and music.

Student Council 2005-6 at Settlebeck
  The student council representatives for this academic year are:
11W 1   Emma Mason
2   Lyam Pearson
11T 1   Liam Mason
2   Nathan Critchlow
10I 1   Natasha Hardy
2   Michael Griffin
10J 1   Adam Littlewood
2   Emma Teal
9H 1   Stuart McCandlish
2   Elizabeth Parkinson
9B 1   William Richardson
2   George Sewell
8AB 1   Lizzie Hunt
2   Jamie Game
8NB 1   Lauren Mackereth
2   Tom Coates
7O 1   Hugh Gallagher
2   Lizzie Farrell/
    Sommer Vass
7L 1   Xav Baines
2   Emma Rennison
Health and Safety at Settlebeck
  Settlebeck had an official tri-annual Health and Safety audit in October and has, for the second time, been praised for the comprehensive and thorough systems of monitoring we employ in the school.  The auditors said that they had never seen a better school in respect of both documentation and practice.  The audit report gave useful advice on minor changes to our systems, which are now being implemented to ensure that we are up to date with all current legislation and regulations.
  Particular thanks are due to Mrs Hurr and our caretaker Mr Tebay for their hard work and ongoing vigilance in this important aspect of our school's management.

  We meet in members' homes in Kirkby Lonsdale on the second Tuesday afternoon of the month or go on an outing somewhere. Most of us have been involved in Guiding in some way either as Brownies or Guides in our youth or as Guiders.
  There are Trefoil Guilders worldwide and we are members of the Guide Association.
  The members of Kent Lune Guild come from Arnside in the west to Sedbergh in the north, but we meet in Kirkby Lonsdale as it is a central point. We would welcome new members, as we are a small Guild. If you have been involved in Guiding in any way or have an interest in the work of Girlguiding UK, why not ring Jean Mitchell on 015396 21144 and find out more about us.