Congratulations on your purchase of a new Little Giant® 10-Frame Complete Beehive!
If you are new to beekeeping, you are about to experience
a simple hobby with sweet rewards! If you are an experi-
enced beekeeper, you will find that Little Giant® Beehives
are interchangeable with other traditional 10-frame Lang-
stroth hives. Either way, you just made an investment into a
lifestyle hobby that focuses on the growing homesteading
trend. This guide is not intended to instruct on the art and
science of beekeeping, but rather it is designed to introduce
you to the contents of a Little Giant® 10-frame Complete
Beehive. Always remember to educate your neighbors about
beekeeping, check local ordinances, and befriend your local
beekeepers through a beekeeping association to learn more
about your new hobby!
HIVE10 Standard 10-Frame Langstroth Beehive: When
you first unpack your HIVE10 Complete Hive, it is important
to understand each component and its use. This Lang-
stroth-design hive and all of its components are compatible
with other 10-frame Langstroth hives currently available in
the market. Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth patent-
ed this style of hive in 1852, revolutionizing beekeeping by
designing a hive with easily removable frames for honey
harvesting. The space in between the frames—known as
"bee space"—is a precise measurement that allows bees to
build comb while still having
the hive. The Langstroth design and the "bee space" mea-
surement is now the standard in modern beekeeping. Below
is a summary of each section of the hive and its key features.
Hive Components (from top to bottom):
Telescoping Cover This cover is made of solid pine and
topped with aluminum for protection from the weather. The
cover is oversized to provide a telescoping feature, providing
the hive with extra protection from the elements. The cover
can slide front to back (telescope) in order to provide more
or less ventilation to the hive.
Inner Cover The wooden cover that goes on top of the
brood box. As additional boxes are added to the hive, the
inner cover should always be moved to the top box. This
cover will likely be sealed by the bees to the uppermost
box with beeswax and/or propolis, and a hive tool (HT10 sold
separately) will be needed to pry it off. The purpose of this
cover is to prevent the outer cover from being sealed to the
hive. There is a small notch cut in the front of this cover for
ventilation that can be opened or closed simply by sliding
the telescoping cover to the front or back.
Medium Super (MEDBOX10 sold separately) The Medium
Super is the upper box (or boxes) in which the bees will
10-FRAME COMPLETE BEEHIVE
Item # HIVE10 KIT
3
⁄
" of space to move around
8
Miller Manufacturing Company • Glencoe, MN 55336 USA • www.miller-mfg.com
store their honey (also known as a Honey Super). These can
be either Deep (9
5
beekeepers prefer the Medium Super for honey harvesting,
as a Deep Super filled with honey can weigh over 80 pounds,
making it difficult to lift and handle. It is recommended
that a Medium Super is purchased at the same time as the
hive but is not required; it can be purchased at a later date.
The Little Giant® Medium Super (MEDBOX10 sold separately)
comes with 10 frames, each loaded with natural-colored
foundation. The foundation in our super is injection-molded
plastic foundation, and the natural-colored honeycomb cells
are coated with beeswax to encourage building of comb.
Queen Excluder (QEPL sold separately) A flat plastic sheet
with holes large enough to allow the worker bees through
but small enough to keep the queen from moving upward
in the hive. It is to be placed between the highest brood box
and the first honey super, preventing the queen from laying
eggs in the place where the honey is to be harvested.
176101 Rev A 6-3-14
Guide to Your Hive
⁄
" tall) or Medium-sized (6
8
⁄
" tall). Many
5
8