Several things happened.
First of all, we ordered three nuc boxes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuc for the n00bs) and put them together. No pictures, but they’re just generic 5 frame nuc boxes. I was an Idiot and put one of the side inside out, but we filled it up, so it’ll be fine. I’m excited to get started on splitting. We’re going to focus on selling nucs, not harvesting honey, this year, in an effort to increase resilience of our bees in the area with hygienic queens (which tend to fight off pests like Varroa more effectively). We might get a couple of frames of honey just for fun, but it’s not our goal. Sorry for those expecting jars of Vienna Gold.
Secondly, we found a hive beetle in our hive, and two mice families in our stored empty frames. Aside from wax moth, I think we’ve encountered most of the pests by now. I’m honestly more frightened of foulbrood and those insidious diseases, so I’m taking this in stride.
Here are the pictures we took last Thursday:
I think you forgot to say that your friend Lark helped make the boxes and did not make one inside out.
The photos are Vienna Gold, fantastic!