# Follower Boards-Increased Swarming?



## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

I have been using follower boards since I started keeping TBHs. This year I was in a rush to make a split, and given time constraints, I cobbled together a 3' hive from scrap and left out the follower board. I noticed through the year, even when the bees were still expanding the brood nest and I was late getting to it, they never built cells, despite being clogged in the brood nest on a very populous hive. Do open hives give them the feeling that there is still room for expansion, thus make them less prone to swarm? I'd like to hear from others who don't use follower boards to get their opinion, as my one and only experience with it doesn't justify a true experiment on the matter.


----------



## tmwilson (Apr 5, 2015)

In the spring/summer I keep the follower board at the back of the hive, essentially not in use. If I notice the hive is not as strong as it should be or otherwise unable to care for the open space in the honey section of the hive, I will install the follower board immediately behind the last comb until the bee numbers improve. When I remove comb/honey in the fall I place the follower board as close to the comb as I can get it so the hive is as small as possible for winter. This seems to work for me in my situation.

If there is no follower board the brood section can expand both ways. If you had used the follower board and forgot about it or were late to check on the hive I bet the congestion would have been much worse as there would have been only one direction for expansion. So in this situation I would say the lack of a follower board likely helped you out.


----------



## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

That seems like an excellent strategy, and one I think I'll start implementing.


----------



## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I use them, but only to have a "key" into the hive. When I do splits or get swarms I will put them in smaller hives that generally don't have followers. With the follower I know that I always have a little more room in the back of a hive.


----------



## BobRagsdale (Nov 23, 2014)

I gave up on follower boards several years ago. I saw no benefit from them (the bees weren't any more productive) and they had the downside of creating a space that the bees couldn't properly patrol which gave hive beetles a better chance of taking hold. 

That said, I do have several short top-bar hives (18") with smaller entrances that I use as nucs.


----------



## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

That's kind of the way of thinking I'm beginning to come around to. In terms of defense, what we're really talking about is comb coverage, not hive coverage. Follower boards do seem to be a favorite hiding place of SHB. I'm thinking of taking mine out next year and seeing how it goes. Thank you all for the replies.


----------



## MartinW (Feb 28, 2015)

I never use follower boards, maintain small entrances, and since my first year, aggressively open up the brood nest and make increases to manage swarming or swarm cellls. I have never had an issue with too much room for the bees.


----------



## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

MartinW said:


> aggressively open up the brood nest


I think a lot of the misconception that TBHs are swarm makers come from people not realizing how important this aspect of swarm prevention is. I've managed to get several hives to full capacity before a single swarm cell is drawn by doing this. It's a fine line between too much or too little, and when to do it. It takes more attention to detail and intensive management than traditional hives, but it's very doable. The more hives I get, the less attention I'm able to give to each hive, so hoping there is something to leaving the follower board out.


----------

