I highly suggest you search the forum for wash boarding. Here’s a link to at least one of the many threads on here, In short no one really knows
http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/serious-washboarding-this-evening/7210
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I posted a video of my bees wash boarding here
http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/video-of-bees-washboarding-on-front-of-hive/9404?u=rbk
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Mis-spent?? Or early doctor training…
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my bees busily building new comb- they store honey in it even as they build it- and the construction workers get fed right off the building site:
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Following on from @rightph photographs of a banksia flower( I will copy here for ease of reference) 
You might be interested in what happens after flowering.
When the flower dies and the petals fall it leaves a cigar shaped fury rod the length of the flower.
This is a closer look a bit out of focus
Following this the cigar thingie grows a seed pod, again the length of the flower.
The seeds have been evacuated in this photo. Seed pod is hard and woody. If you slice it length ways you get this.
If you slice along the axis you get this
I have made many drink coaster slicing axially.
Leads to artistic people making key holders like this. No I did not make this, my Mother did.
I find Banksia’s fascinating.
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Really cool
Thanks for posting
That seed pod looks like a wasp nest
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Not really a Photo, a photo could not do this justice. Video from my mentor, he put out a little bit of pollen in a bucket near is bees this afternoon, December 26 here in Dallas
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Yes, very fascinating!! So different to anything around here.
Whoa, quite a frenzy! Would that indicate those bees are trying to raise brood right now in your area Marty?
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My mentor indicated to me yesterday when I was asking about the video. Is that the Queen typically only shuts down during December and early January around here. So I’m not exactly sure. Not sure what all that means 
still learning
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Thanks Busso, for the information on the Banksia!! Very interesting indeed!
Might go plant some low growing banksia in my front yard. Any recommendations?
No not necessarily
Bees are opportunists and will bring food into the hive at every opportunity
I have had a queen-less colony fill a whole brood box wth pollen
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No recommendations I only have the ones native to our plot.
I do know that all Banksias are susceptible to dieback . There are some really spectacular ones. The native nurseries will be better able to help you.
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No worries, I’ll check out Bunnings later on
Yes…I recommend this one:
It only grows to a couple of metres in height but is also good for its fire tolerance. Note that Banksia’s suffer from root rot (so keep their feet dry) and also most (all?) are very susceptible to die-back.
These also grow very well up around the Joondalup/Wanneroo area.
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Thanks Alan! Hope to meet up with my fellow beeks in NOR, sometime in 2017!
The mock orange is flowering with the rain around
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Oh those are lovely…what are they?
@Dee Eucalyptus (Corymbia) Ficifolia Red Flowering Gum
From the same link (nearer the end)…
Corymbia ficifolia:
- Tends to have orange to red flowers, but can be almost white, pink, or deep crimson.
- Tends to have darker bark
- Very prolific flowering
- Buds can be any colour: pink, reddish, pale or green.
- Leaves tend to be longer relative to width.
- Most individual examples are clearly one species or the other, but even experts cannot always tell the difference, particularly as many cultivated trees are crossbreeds.
These are the trees/flowers @busso (or was it @skeggley??) mentioned in a post on a different thread about being a treat as a kid (and also the same one’s he commented on in relation to their classification).
The flowers literally are to the point of overflowing with nectar. I find it quite amusing to see the bees almost looking “drunk” on nectar laying in the flower…
I attended a 2-day workshop at UWA (CIBER - http://www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au/) and was chatting to Tiffane Bates (one of the Researchers) and she commented that when one of these are in full flower a colony of bees can readily fill a super in a week if it’s located close enough.
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