Top Bar Hive Follower Board dimensions

Started by Poppi, February 13, 2012, 07:42:58 PM

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Poppi

February 13, 2012, 07:42:58 PM
This may have been discussed but cannot find by searching.   I need to make follower boards for a KTBH.

Do I need to make them fit as close as possible to the inside of the hive or is a gap between the edge of the follower and hive body OK?  Thinking Bee space and small hive beetle problem.

Thanks, John

Michael Bush

#1
February 14, 2012, 01:36:10 AM
The tighter the better.  Bee tight would be best, but hard to accomplish.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

caticind

#2
February 14, 2012, 11:10:35 AM
Mine have a gap of 1/16th-1/8th inch and work fine.  Bee-tight is ideal, though, as I get the occasional suicidal bee squeezing underneath and dying on the other side when it can't find its way back.  Maybe a few dozen a year.
The bees would be no help; they would tumble over each other like golden babies and thrum wordlessly on the subjects of queens and sex and pollen-gluey feet. -Palimpsest

bulldog

#3
February 16, 2012, 10:58:37 AM
i tried to get mine to fit exactly, which hasn't worked yet in four tries, but they are pretty close so it doesn't seem to matter, occassionally a bee will sneak back there, but by late summer they have them glued up tight.
Confucius say "He who stand on toilet is high on pot"

BoBn

#4
February 16, 2012, 12:38:54 PM
Make one from a piece of cardboard to use for a pattern
"Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites."
--Thomas Jefferson

nietssemaj

#5
February 16, 2012, 03:39:52 PM
I am finishing up building my barrel TBH and the follower boards were a pain. I wound up using some foamcore board and painfully cutting it until it fit properly and using it as a stencil. Then I cut my board with a jig saw and spent hours sanding the high spots down. It will be very interesting to see how many bee's get past the boards.

Michael Bush

#6
February 17, 2012, 11:41:23 PM
It's probably easier to cut the board sloppy and then use #8 hardware cloth to take up the difference...
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Poppi

#7
February 20, 2012, 05:07:50 PM
BoBn....  good idea but this is the problem for me...  the long sides of the hive are a little warped so as I move the follower board out...  the size changes slightly...

Michael...  as always you have a good idea with the #8 hardware cloth because with that I can "shape it" to the sides as I move it out...

This was a TBH that the beek said the bees would never stay in it...  well it's no wonder with the "volume" of the hive body and the top bars were all 2" wide...   I cut everything down to the dimensions of davesbees vid instructions...   this is something I wanted to "try out"...  I have the word out I would like to place a swarm it to start...   I think they would do better than a package...

Time will tell...  thanks for all the feedback,  John

windfall

#8
February 24, 2012, 09:06:32 AM
One advantage to making the board bee-tight is you can then use the other side for nuc or splits in a pinch.
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