During our hive inspection we also determined that between the new frames we added from the nuc and the leftover frames of honey we had from our bees that didn't survive the winter, our boxes were pretty full. In a situation like this where there's ample resources coming in but nowhere for the bees to put it, you risk having half your hive swarm out and leave to find greener pastures.
To avoid this, we put on our first honey super. However, we don't want the queen laying eggs up in the new honey box so first we place a screen - called a Queen Excluder - on top of the brood box. The screen allows worker bees to pass through its slats, but the larger queen will not be able to do so; keeping her in the bottom two hive boxes to keep popping out bee babies.
With the screen in place, we add another box of empty frames, called a honey super. This box has ten frames like the brood boxes but isn't as tall. The bees will need to build out comb in this new box, and once they do, they'll begin storing honey there. With luck, we'll have our first-ever batch of honey later this spring!!
Here's what the hive looks like now ...
