Hello Tillie,
Sorry to hear about your bees. We are 6 months ahead of you, and the floods at the beginning of the year have just left a few marks such as patched up roads, the first cattle ticks here for years, a full hay shed, and now a potentially very bad bushfire season. The water must also have revived the trees, and the malaleuca certainly blossomed well.
At the time, people were getting bridge fever because they couldn't get to the next town. The mayor ordered in supplies as soon as the railroad was fixed, and all that was brought in on the train were cases of beer and a saddle. He was riled, but it was funny at the time. A beehive was also found in a tree. The river came up to the second highest mark since records were taken.
The old fellows here remember the good wet seasons from their childhood, when it rained for 6 weeks without hardly stopping. They know where to place the hives away from the floods, and they look in disbelief when someone builds a house in a flood zone. It was sad at the time with the bees unable to bring in supplies, because they would all wash away. I didn't know if they would get through it. I'll show you a couple of photos from the rainy time, and a photo from now.
I'm not sure how much rain we had. If I can find the record, I might add it up for you. I hope you can get some new hives going.
Lone