Just built my first TBH, but don't get what the follower board is for, or even if I should use them. Any thoughts out there?
The follower board keeps the bees from bu8ilding wild comb where there is no top bars,plus if you condense the bees to a smaller space they will be more likely to complete the top bars they are on.
Welcome to the site! The way I understand it and use them in some of my Langs is the following. The follower board is to be used to allow you to enlarge or shrink the size of the colony to fit the size of your hive. It's easier for them to defend a smaller area and they will build up more quickly. Once flow gets going you'll want to expand even more. After you've harvested (before winter sets in) you'll want to make sure to shrink the hive size back down and have them backfill the shrinking broodnest for overwintering.
Welcome to the forum D-ville.