This has been a fun thread to cruise through! I'm not too far from Dane, and am in a more urban area (well, at least three of my colonies are) but it's cool to see how just a few miles can impact honey flow.
Dane, I just now came in from checking out those backyard hives. It's been a few weeks since I've given them any room, but they weren't as packed up as you and I guessed they might be. I added supers to each, though, and noted that I'll have an excellent crop of both comb and extracted honey!
My colonies out in Clackamas County are doing well, but most of them started a bit later, from bare foundation or starter strips. The starter strips get drawn and filled the fastest, but overall, that yard's been a bit slower.
Here in my neighborhood, folks are into "full-contact gardening", so there's always something blooming. My lavender plants and flowering oregano have been covered in bees, as have my mammoth gray stripes.
Interestingly, the honey in these backyard hives is bright, bright yellow. Almost flourescent. Pardon me, but "pee" from somebody who takes too many vitamins comes to mind! :-P Any idea what that could be? I didn't taste it, so can't go there. Hoping it's not all the Queen Anne's Lace, which I hear is nasty-flavored...