I’m gonna predict a lean Jan -April on WA. Marri is about to flower, which is about 3 months early.
I’ve left most of the honey to the bees as I don’t want a repeat of last year.
No food or water made me lose a few hives.
Where are you? Handy if you amend your profile to give your location. 
Just near mt barker, 60km north of Albany.
Great area.
You get much Blackbutt ( E.patens) around you. The blossom here has been great for last couple of weeks. In just a week the Flow was topped solely to due to Blackbutts, in 3 frames and well on way to filling 3 more that were depleted in the hot weather.
Yes I’m on 180ac and have a few.
Just last week I did see a large area with loads of them flowering. Just down the road and will keep in mind for next year.
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I’ve been emptying supers to make way for the Marri last few days, couple more to do. Marri is currently flowering in some areas and buds just beginning in others, could be in for an extended flow!
Amazing how the honey colour and taste frame to frame hive to hive. 2 hives side by side one with light the other with dark honey, go figure. I have several storage and pour containers to keep them separate and have only been dating batches but am thinking I should be specifying colony’s also as I can’t specify floral sources.
Found October extracted honey crystallised already and have started on a warming cabinet project.
Definitely my best season yet which has redefined the number of hives I want.
Still need labels…
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Yes Skegs, I am mirroring you.
With regard honey colour, I found some frames were quite different in colour but all darker than I have been used to. Like you I only date the honey when extracted but I have a spreadsheet which records frames weight and water content.
The honey I extracted on the 1st Nov is just crystalizing now but the honey extracted on the 5th Nov crystalized within 3 days 
. Both had very low moisture 16 and 15 % respectively.
With regard quantity. In 2017 (all in March) I took 24Kg, in 2018 Zero, already this season I have 19.5 K
and still have 3 frames to finish capping. I am happy. We use about 16Kg a year so if all else fails I have honey for the next year. Anything from now on will probably go to friends and rellies. 
Have my fingers crossed for the Marri. @onehivehoney is predicting a fail again this year. I have learnt predicting nature is fraught with danger. 
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Yep, who’d want to be a weather forecaster?
One thing I forgot to mention was that I’ve noticed the bees are currently not interested in honey outside their hive and will not clean up my equipment. 
I’m also melting wax in the solar heater and in the past, when I open it, they’re around checking it out, now, nothing. To me this says there is a flow and has been for a while. Having to empty the supers 3 times since October is a bit of a give away too.
Looking at around 30kg per hive so far and I’m talking hybrids too, I haven’t touched the traditional or WSP honey frames…
Time to start looking for an outlet.
And did I mention labels…
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Or quit the AC business.
Whats wrong with “Skeggley’s Natural Honey”…Straight from hive to you. 
Marri won’t fail.
It’s just way too early.
On topic of weather prediction…
This reminded me a lecture about weather forecasting in agricultural meteorology from my younger days. We were very excited because all we did in 6 previous months of the subject duration was learning how to setup weather stations, make accurate observations and tedious record keeping. And finally we were set to learn real Kung Fu.
Lecturer: “To achieve approximately 71-73% of accuracy in 24 hours forecast, all you need to do is to say “tomorrow weather will be the same as today”. To go higher you need one more tool.” Auditorium leans forward in anticipation. Here lecturer drops a weather observation journal for the last century on his desk…
They predict the weather every day.
The 7 day prediction.
If they’re so smart, why not just do the weather once per week on a Sunday. At the end of the week we could then rate their work.
That would allow the weatherman to get a real job for the rest if the week.
Talk about eating my words, I took the wax out of my heater to cool overnight and this morning it looks like a ball of bees. I’ve also noticed scouts in the swarm traps around the yard.
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Thought I’d add a tip/trick that has reduced my harvesting OCD considerably. I need to extend the flow tube a little to go into my container, particularly on the long lang. Like others I slip a 20mm PVC join over and it is happy days with honey flowing freely and were you want it.
My fruatratuon comes when I manipulate the cover I place over the top and the lose fit join slips and falls into my harvest container. I “solved” it by wrapping an elastic band over the flow tube and making the join non slip.
This may help others with this frustration when using PVC.
Now all I really need to find is find a food grade o-ring…
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You “sloved” 
the problem, why complicate it with an O ring. 
Ooooo, I should check my spelling more carefully on small screens, thanks for the pick up @busso
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If anyone is wondering why they haven’t received license renewal paperwork this year it is because the billing cycle is shifting from January to late April/early May.
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Thanks for that Snowy, thanks for reminding me of another bill…
Propolis being deposited through the frames, pretty cool how far they get it past the gap they’re sealing and yes, filthy frames I know but the honey still flows…
Honey comb, reverse angle. Look how the wax is secured to the perspex, doesn’t look like flakes, more particular, perhaps the reuse of the capping from the Flow frames.
Lots of flowers around, nectar? Not sure but the rats are back…
WA rocks
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Things have finally turned around in Fridgetown. Eucalypts are flowering profusely. Harvested 15Kgs yesterday which makes 50 this summer! Even though I’ve just emptied the flow frames, both the front of the brood box AND super are covered in bees. As a result of losing my number 2 FH last winter, I bought an Apimaye hive. So far so good!
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It is a good season Jim. How did you “lose” your other FH?
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