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Size mesh to block queen

9K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Acebird 
#1 ·
Have some 1/4 galvanized hardware cloth that I used to cover the bottom of my top bar hives.

Is this mesh small enough to work as a queen excluder if I was interested in using it. I know some bees can go through, just not sure about all. (Playing with a feral hive to see if they could get through it to a small dish of honey).

Thanks
 
#3 ·
1/4" cloth doesn't restrict honeybees generally speaking. #5 cloth is suggested for use as queen excluder. Now, keep in mind that it also may depend of your bee's genetics (their size) and the queen size. But as a general rule #5 would be the one to use. Another thing to consider is that wire size can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. If you have cloth with four wires per inch and your bees have hard time getting through, it might be because the wire is pretty thick and openings are more typical for a finer size hardware cloth.
 
#4 ·
I think 1/4 hardware cloth is a restriction because it is square. Yes most of the bees can get through but not as well as if the mesh was 1/4 by 1/2 for instance like an excluder. I believe the hardware cloth will slow the bees down.
 
#6 ·
Actually Acebird, my thinking is that a perfectly square opening is easier for the bees to get through as opposed to a round hole the same width, because the diagonal measurement from corner to corner is longer than, say, 1/4" therefore the bees can get their legs and body through on the diagonal better, if you follow what I mean. John
 
#10 ·
#8 - no bee can pass. pollen gets stuck.
#7 - as long as there are no bent wires, no bee can pass. Pollen falls through
#6 - worker bees can squeeze through (and will) but they have to wiggle and squirm a lot. Drones and queens cannot.
#5 - worker bees can squeeze through easily but lose some of their pollen. Queens and drones cannot.
#4 - all bees can pass (workers, drones and queens). The workers sometimes lose some of their pollen when they catch their basket on the wire. (mice cannot and this makes a nice mouse guard)
 
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