Lovely pics.
Mine are out and about too- some with black pollen as well- not sure what that is- but all welcomed.
Seems all 9 colonies should be strong enough to winter through, with enough supplies. Just depends on the weather- if we get sunny that suddenly turns cold it may catch them out. I am very lucky that they are all in my garden so I can closely supervise
Ours are absolutely hammering the ivy. The older hive has filled 2/3 of a super in 2 weeks - we're going to pinch this and give it to the younger hive, which is not foraging so well. The older hive also has a totally full super, so it has plenty.