# Divider/Follower Board at Front of Brood Nest?



## Rydalch (Mar 29, 2016)

How is the best way to arrange the bars in a topbar hive? Right now I have the brood nest at the entrance (front of hive) with the honeycombs following and then the divider/follower board. So when I check the hive I move the divider/follower board and have to go all the way through the honeycombs before I finally get to the brood nest to check them. When the colony was small it wasn't a big deal and I could get through the honeycombs to check the brood fairly quickly. Now the colony has 11 huge honeycombs which all are attached to the side of the hive so it takes a VERY long time to get through all those honeycombs just to check the brood nest and I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before I can't get through the honeycombs to even check the brood. 

Should I put the divider/follower board at the front of the brood nest so I can remove it and be able to check the brood right away and not even have to go through the honeycombs?


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## bibbster (Jun 10, 2016)

That's what I did, or similar to what I did anyway. I just put a plain, solid, bar in front of the brood nest. The bar is 1/2" wide, and once removed, it gives plenty of room to pull the brood bars out. My bees have not attempted to build comb in that wider space.

I'm a newbee, but common sense told me that was a logical thing to do, and so far, the bees don't care.


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## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

I made and use the tool, pictured above, to get into the brood nest from the front. I too have a first bar that is 1/2"x3/4"x16" that is a spacer, and my entrance bar. That tool is also handy for when the bees build out comb, all the way to the back of the hive


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

My hives are full of comb with only a ventilation bar and a spacer left at the back, no other empty bars. Spaced throughout the hives are extra long bars I call pull/push bars. Once I get through the spring and I know the bees won't be attaching combs to the sides of the hive, I just need to break the bars free of propolis the length of the hive with my knife and then pop out the ventilation bar and spacer, grab a pull/push bar near the brood comb, and slide all the honeycombs to the back at one time. I check the brood, and once I'm finished, use another pull/push bar to slide everything closed again. Takes no time at all.


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## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

Jon, Do you have pictures of the Push/Pull bar? I am not following your explanation.


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## AvatarDad (Mar 31, 2016)

Wyatt Magnum also suggests methods for using a small spacer at the front and says he likes to also dive right into the brood nest. 

With only 2 hives and some trepidation, I like creeping up on them from behind. It gives both of us time to get used to the idea.  I might feel bolder in the future.

Rydlach: I used the "follower at the front" idea as a poor man's entrance reducer when my package was just installed. I actually had 3 followers all together which covered about half the entrance slot. But, I never used it like you suggest here... getting the follower out after they have propolized it for a few weeks might be difficult. That being said, they only propolized the follower they could reach... the other 2 remained loose. They also did not attach comb to the follower. When I opened up the entrance later, they were fairly easy to remove. (But, I was glad to see them go).


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## trishbookworm (Jun 25, 2016)

Wyatt Magnum points out that bees prefer to not use the first comb for construction, so you can take advantage of that. It's usually smaller.

Two ideas on opening from the front, both making sure that a wall-to-wall hive can be opened safely, AND that you can go to the brood nest first, from Wyatt Magnum:
1. use a 1/4 or /2 inch bar (he calls a cleat, unsure of dimensions) as the FIRST BAR. Then you can remove that, and then use thin rod, like a wire hanger, with a 90 degree angle at the bottom, to cut comb attachments. (but watch for bees trying to use BOTH the 1/2 spacer in front, AND the bar, as the top bar and making wacky comb. Whoops!) Also the 90 turn part is narrowed/sharpened to cut better.
2. or cycle out the first bar with every inspection. This also helps generate new comb for nucs and as spacers in the honey section.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Top end entrances work well for this too, Bush style. Like Avatar Dad though, I am not bold enough to go dive into the brood nest straight off, and like to sneak in from the back. I've done it before, but not often. You can definitely tell a difference in temperament. I'd like to see Jon Wolff's push/pull bar though, sounds intriguing.


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

My pull/push bars are extra long, about an inch longer at both ends, than my regular bars. I have one spaced approximately every seven or eight bars. Once they're broken free of propolis and I've made space at the back, I can reach forward from the back of the hive (I have end entrances) and take hold of a pull/push bar closest to where I want to access the hive and pull all the bars toward me at the same time. When I want to close it up, I can take the rear-most pull/push bar and push all the bars forward until almost closed (about 1/4"). It does take some practice and finesse because impatience will get bees squished if the propolis goes from really sticky to suddenly not.

Duncan, if you've seen my pest control system, you may recognize this picture since I pulled it from that album.


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## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

Interesting, not what I was picturing at all. I am not sure how practical that would be though? Seems more like a solution that was looking for a problem. I will have to ponder on that one for a while. Thank you for the picture!


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

Duncan151 said:


> Interesting, not what I was picturing at all. I am not sure how practical that would be though? Seems more like a solution that was looking for a problem. I will have to ponder on that one for a while. Thank you for the picture!


The problem was that here in Georgia summers are very hot and humid. Exposing the hive too long to the extra ventilation messes up the hive A/C and can take the bees hours to get it right again. Moving from the back to the broodnest one bar at a time takes too long. With the extra long bars, I can lean across the top of the hive from the back end, get a good grip, and pull the majority of the bars toward me all at the same time. Those strips in the picture are for closing up bars. As I check a bar, I place it back with a 1/4" gap, set in a strip, and do the next one. Keeps the bees down and makes it easy to close everything up.


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