Yes, it is winter but it is not so cold. We still have some plant flowering at the moment in the area and bees still bringing pollen (hard to tell about honey without scales, but nothing to write home about anyway).
The Eucalyptus marginata (Jarrah tree) on the photo (@skeggley, please correct me if I am wrong), in general, initiate new flower buds in summer to early autumn and buds open somewhere between September and February. That was the reason for my comment 
The Grevillias here are going off at the moment, best Iâve seen for years, hopefully a sign of things to come.
Our eucalypts are opportunistic plants and they know a good season better than us, they are prone to bud drop but can flower anytime from June to January. Yep winter through to summer. A mate said a month ago the Jarrah were flowering down Boyup way a month ago and I was sceptical as to whether they would carry the bud but the tree in my pic, here in the Perth Hills, didnât look far off de-capping but time will tell I guess it wouldnât be the first or last time Iâve been wrong.
As for not cold ABB, Iâm sure there are some who would disagree, perhaps less warm would be more correct.
I have a Flow super on the kitchen bench waiting to be drained removed a couple of weeks ago. I havenât drained a frame off hive before nor with cooler temps, I was going to set it up next to the fire or put it in my honey warmer pre harvest but Iâve been slack. Iâm planning to share the results. Point being that even if we got a good winter Jarrah flow It wouldnât be an on the hive extraction due to the cool weathers effect on the honeys viscosity.
I guess time will tell.
Oh and just in case anyoneâs interested I heard from Busso and he says heâs doing better after a bit of a health battle, hopefully I can catch up with him again soon for a yarn.
Personally I agree, it could be warmer. Much warmer. Naive believe that Australia was a warm country disappeared after first winter in Adelaide 
But it is still warmer it terms of hive management when compared to Dougâs region. There are quite a few degrees difference between thoughts like âDo I still have bees?â and âWinter is a colony build up time if I am lucky.â
Good to hear. Please pass him our love and best wishes for recovery! 
For those in south-west WA the weather is looking good (21 C) on Friday for a first (quick) inspection. 
The girls are all flying happily and bringing back pollen so hopefully my inspections all show the same thing 
Well⌠Based on my load cell my bees have been busy. My hive weight is up 3kg this week.
Spring has (nearly?) sprung it seems! Fingers crossed for a better season.
Fingers crossed indeed. Are you on the coastal plains?
Northern suburbs.
âŚ20 characters
Wow, swarm season is on already people. Just went to my first one for the season. Kinda early I would have thought, but bees know best.
Interesting. I was checking if I have any flying drones two weeks ago by the means of entrance observations. Couldnât see any. Yet, they are already swarming not too far away. Need to do another check this week.
I didnât notice any drones in my hive inspection yesterday, but did notice drone cells. I wouldnât think the current weather would be conducive, but I guess if you gotta swarm⌠You gotta swarmâŚ
We will see. There is a chance of good weather next Monday-Tuesday. I hope I will be able to assess the situation and choose what to do next. I finally got an apiary approval from the Shire, so I can make an increase now.
Swarming is not an option. I need those bees 
Does anyone know where I can get a (new) observation hive in/near the Perth area or posted to Perth?
So far the only place Iâve come across is Guilfoyleâs (in Midland) and a place in Qld.
In Perth that is about it. Single frame or ulster style?
I made one by putting windows in a 4f nuc, router rebate for Perspex and make a cover?
Adam
See Feb â19 post
Thanks
Undecided yet. The reason Iâm wanting one is for my kids show and tell so had been partial to a single frame even though I the Ulster style.
Iâm currently time poor so was looking to buy instead of making one.
Guilfoyle single frame is fairly well made.
I just need bees so didnât make an ulster. 3 years on and it is just as produvtive as my full size hives, just a little more management around swarming
Had a chance to dive into one hive only today, but it was a rare hit. I managed to intrude on quiet queen replacement. Couldnât find a queen, but the old one was laying a few days ago. I probably missed a new virgin one because I was through half of the hive before I realised what was going on. It was 6 queen cells in the hive. Bees released one and were holding 5 spares. Since I wanted to increase, I simply couldnât pass this opportunity. So, a simple âhow are we goingâ inspection ended up with making 4 mating nucs.
Colony cooperated well and made all but one of the cells on Apimaye queen hive half-frames I gave to it last season. I would be even happier if they didnât make 2 cells on one half-frame. It was getting dark today, so I hope cells will hold till tomorrow and will be able to transfer one cell as a spare back to the parent colony. Or will make another mating nuc (depends on what is going to win, common cense or greed).
In general, the hive was quite healthy after the winter. 2 brood boxes and super were well populated. A reasonable amount of pollen. Light nectar flow is going on. Nectar did not have any noticeable colour. Hefted the super, and it was about 60% full. Drones were present in such quantities, that even with my âlet them beâ approach, I thought it was a bit excessive.
I am planning to check other hives tomorrow and recheck mating nucs to make sure that I did not shake a new queen there from the donor colony.
I remember @Doug1 was intrigued by idea of âfall comb buildoutâ 
This year I added a second brood box (10 frames with wax foundation) to a new colony at the end of April. At the beginning of May, they built three middle frames. This is how the first and second outer frames look now.
By the way, it is the strongest hive now.
I guess it would be the end of the colony if tried in the Alberta region
Great job ABB!
This is an important post for those beekeepers who want to be proactive in building out comb in the fall.
Although I wintered the hives I used for âfall comb buildoutâ in doubles and singlesâŚall on white new combâŚno pollen storesâŚthey had weakened to only 4 frames of bees by spring. Those 4 frames were covered by âwinter beesâ (long lived bees)âŚof course in those days there was no research done on the importance of âwinter beesâ and we didnât know they even existedâŚbut they had the critical mass to get the colonies going in the springâŚbarely.
By adding resources to my hives in the fallâŚbe it pollen patties or syrupâŚit ensures a stronger colony in the following springâŚat least in my area. Itâs like âmoney in the bankâ and should be reflected in your next yearâs honey crop.
Looks like you will be kept on your toes with that hive(s)! 
Hi guys, hope your all having a good season so far. I went to my first ever swarm collection today. There was oodles of dead or dying bees around it. The home owner said he didnât use any spray on them, just moved the massive umbrella (which they where in) away from the main outdoor living area. Any ideas why do many dead bees?
Errrm, he mis-spoke?? Or somebody else did use something⌠
