Hardware Cloth
Overview
Hardware cloth is something used often when building your own equipment. The mesh spacing is often expressed as a number -- e.g., #4. This expression relates to the number of wires / inch. So, #4 hardware cloth has 4 wires per inch (i.e., every ¼").
The sizes often used for beekeeping equipment are:
|
Size |
Pass Thru? |
Comments | |||
|
Workers |
Drones |
Queens | |||
|
#8 |
1/8" |
✖ |
✖ |
✖ |
Pollen will be captured. Especially useful for covering ventilation holes where you don’t want pests to enter (e.g., on quilt boxes) or bees to exit (e.g., on observation hives). |
|
#7 |
1/7" |
✖ |
✖ |
✖ |
Pollen falls thru. Good for a pollen trap. |
|
#6 |
1/6" |
squeeze thru |
✖ |
✖ |
|
|
#5 |
1/5" |
easily pass thru |
✖ |
✖ |
Pollen often gets knocked off workers. Good for a pollen trap. |
|
#4 |
1/4" |
easily pass thru |
easily pass thru |
easily pass thru |
Sometimes pollen will get knocked off (workers). This is quite useful for mouse guards as mice cannot pass thru this. |
|
Disclaimer: eMail comments to me at BeekeepingBoK @ Gmail.com. The process of beekeeping can cause injury or be a health hazard unless proper precautions are taken, including the wearing of appropriate protective equipment. |