10 Frame Deluxe Beginner Beekeeping Starter Kit
Built for the new beekeeper who wants to harvest honey in year one. This 10-frame deluxe kit ships fully assembled with two brood chambers, two honey supers, a queen excluder, and all the protective gear and tools you need — paint it, add bees, and you're set up for serious honey production from day one. The 10-frame configuration gives you maximum capacity for bigger colonies and bigger harvests.
Features
- 10-frame screened bottom board with insert (assembled)
- Two 10-frame deep brood chambers (20 deep frames + Acorn triple-waxed plastic foundation)
- Wooden and metal queen excluder
- Two 10-frame medium honey supers (20 medium frames + Acorn triple-waxed plastic foundation)
- Inner cover and telescoping outer cover (heavy-duty, weather-resistant)
- Reversible wooden entrance feeder + entrance reducer
- Small stainless steel smoker with leather bellows
- Stainless steel hive tool
- Bee brush
- Custom beekeeping jacket with attached veil (choose your size at checkout)
- Goatskin elbow-length protective gloves (choose your size at checkout)
- Beekeeping For Dummies (latest edition)
How it works in real life
The standard 10 Frame Beginner kit gets you a single brood chamber and one honey super, which means most first-year colonies fill it and stall while you scramble to add capacity. This deluxe kit solves that problem upfront. Two brood chambers give your colony room to build to full strength through their first summer. The queen excluder keeps her in the brood chambers so the honey supers stay clean for harvest. Two medium supers mean serious comb space for a real first-year honey crop in a good nectar flow. The 10-frame configuration is the industry standard and gives you the most colony capacity per hive. Everything ships assembled — you just paint the exterior and prepare for your bees.
Before you order
Pick your jacket and glove sizes at checkout. Get this right the first time — protective gear that doesn't fit well makes inspections miserable. The 10-frame configuration is heavier to lift than 8-frame; if you want a more manageable hive, consider the 8 Frame Super Deluxe Kit instead.
Pairs Well With
- A 3-lb package of bees with a marked queen (sold separately, in season)
- Bee Lively Pollen Patty for early colony build-up
- Wooden Pollen Trap (fits 8 and 10 frame hives) for harvesting pollen later in the season
- Exterior latex paint for the woodenware
- A local beekeeping association membership — we always recommend joining
Specifications
- Hive configuration: 10-frame Langstroth (double deep + double medium)
- Brood chambers: 2 deeps
- Honey supers: 2 mediums
- Queen excluder: wood-bound metal
- Foundation: Acorn triple-waxed plastic
- Frames included: 20 deep + 20 medium (40 total)
- Smoker: small, stainless steel with leather bellows
- Gloves: goatskin, elbow-length
- Book: Beekeeping For Dummies (current edition)
- Shipping weight: 65 lbs
- Shipping dimensions: 26 × 26 × 40 in
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this kit have two brood chambers and two honey supers?
A healthy colony needs roughly two deep boxes of comb to build to full strength and overwinter well. The standard 10 Frame Beginner ships with one of each, which means most first-year colonies fill it and stall waiting for you to add capacity. Starting with two avoids that and gives you a real shot at a first-year honey crop.
What does the queen excluder do?
It sits between your brood chambers and your honey supers and keeps the queen out of the supers, so the comb up top stays clean for harvest. The slots let workers through but block the queen from laying brood in your honey.
How heavy will a full 10 frame medium honey super be?
A 10-frame medium full of capped honey weighs roughly 45-55 lbs. If that's more than you want to lift repeatedly during summer inspections, consider the 8 Frame Super Deluxe Kit — the same configuration in lighter boxes.
Does this kit come with bees?
No. Bees are sold separately and only available in spring — typically March through May in South Carolina. We sell 3-lb packages with a marked queen during package season.
Can a first-year beekeeper really fill four boxes?
Not always — and that's fine. Most first-year colonies don't fill all four. The point of the deluxe configuration is that the capacity is there when your bees are ready, instead of you scrambling to order more boxes mid-summer when they outgrow what they have.
