Hi Tony
I would be just over the hill from you, it’s a good time to add your super, they will get straight onto filling no doubt with all the Marri in full flower.
I see you have your hive in the shade, has that caused any problems?
I had my hives, when they were quite new/small, in the partially shaded area which cause a problem over winter as they got even less sun and they didn’t progress very well until I shifted them into the full sun. Now all going gang busters.
Hi @cviewbee, hope you don’t mind if I join in this conversation. I’m in Geraldton and a complete newbee.
I placed 2 hives under the ‘verandah’ of a shed, facing north, hoping that the bees would be protected from the elements, and that I might perhaps also extend the life of the cedar.
It seems to work well, as the hives are shaded during our very hot summer days, but get sunlight on them in the cooler months.
The hives were started in September, one from a purchased nuc, the other I collected two swarms from around town and merged them.
Both have been filling fast in the last 4 weeks, and I harvested two frames (for 6kg) a week ago.
Back to the point… I’m planning on re-modelling my backyard in the next few months, and was thinking I’d place my hives in a chook run, and was thinking I’d have a 
hive stand with a roof built over it. Keen to hear if this roof idea is contraindicated though.
Cheers.
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Welcome Debra, I reckon we can extend Perth to regional WA (Busso is on here enough!)
The verandah setup looks good and gives a good balance for winter/summer.
Often people face their hives east to get morning sun on the entrance, so it would be worth considering that in your new setup.
Re a roof on the hive stand. The things I would try to think about would be:
Thanks so much @Dunc. Very much appreciate your thoughts, and I’ll definitely be avoiding creating a ‘sail-like’ roof in Geraldton’s wind! 
I only got the flow hive in September and captured a swarm in October. It has taken until now for the population to grow this big. Just in time for the Marri flow.
I have not had any winter to see if there are any issues with the roof over It is under deciduous trees so I may remove some of the sheets of tin on the North side if the old chook shed to allow winter sunshine to warm the bees up a bit.
Tony
There are all sorts of flowers opening up around me now. Bees are back on bottlebrush, trumpet vines and banksia. I presume the cool wet weather and shorter days are bringing out the autumn flowers.
I was surprised to see the following flowers…
It’s on a street of WA peppermint trees, so i’d assumed it was another… it has an identical gnarled trunk and a weeping habit with similar leaves. But the flowers are quite different and the leaves are smaller. Also the bees didn’t show much interest in the WA peppermints whereas they love this, and are collecting orange pollen off it.
I can’t help you there, but a very interesting foliage and flower.
A friend just told me. It’s a peppercorn tree.
Yes it is Schinus molle it can grow in very dry climates and is found in many country towns throughout Australia
Has someone identified that glorious red orange flower in the above photograph please?
Marri is in full flower here in the Carradine Valley, three flow hives with two brood boxes each full to the brim and just yesterday removed the bee mats but left the queen excluders to the top flow hive supers. Wondering if there is enough of summer left to see some honey this year.
Great shots Rob! Nice and tidy location!
Marri is super thick with blossom here on the block in Pemberton. Bees are very busy and the hive smells amazing from metres away, so was getting pretty excited that they might be starting in the flow frames. We put the flow super on just after Christmas, but there doesn’t seem like too much activity as yet. My worry today is that the bees have been thick on the front of the hive since Monday evening. I thought they might have all be trying to get in at once, but that is not the case. Is this what is called bearding, and is there any need to worry. Any advice would be fantastic. Little bit jealous of all the honey being produced in Mt Lawley. We got our hive on the coldest day in Sept., and figured we might not have a harvest this season.
Sounds like bearding - is it hot weather at the moment? The other possibility is swarm preparation - are there any queen cells in the hive?
Yes Dawn - unseasonally humid and has been pretty hot. Going into further hot weather over Sat and Sun. We haven’t looked for a while, but there are queen cells. The hive has been really “happy”, so hopefully just the weather.
Weather is similar in the metro area in Perth…unseasonally humid. Summer has arrived, it seems, just as the calendar tells us it should be waning…
@demak I inspected my hive 2wks ago and this last week (with the humid weather) I’ve noticed increased bearding around the front and rear of the hive - the first time I’ve noticed it on the rear of the hive in the last 12months. I’m hoping to find time to take a look in the hive this weekend to see what is going on in the brood box (looking in through the inspection windows I can see frames filling with nectar/honey).
I think it would be an odd time of year for a hive to swarm, but given the peculiar weather who knows??? I noticed no drone cells last inspection and a significant reduction in drone numbers, so I’ll be curious to see if that has changed…weather related?!
On a side note, about how odd this weather is, my passionfruit vines have only just started to really burst into flower…about 4-5months later than last year! A weird spring/summer indeed!
Hi Alan
My bees have been bearding since the start of summer. Possibly due to its location in full Western Australian sun! 
The same has been happening with my passionfruit. Just started flowering 2 weeks ago!
Hi @aaron_y,
My hive has bearded throughout summer too, but only on the front. The difference I meant this time was the bearding is also now occurring on the back of the hive (sides are reasonably free of bearding).
What passionfruit vines have you got? I’ve got black and Panama gold. They should flower at different times but I’ve got them both in flower currently…
I believe mine are purple nellie kelly
My bearding has so far been restricted to the front. Might be the strange weather we have been experiencing
