Width of a bee? - Quick someone grab a tape measure

[Mek]

What is the dimensions of the largest sized hole that a bee cannot go through?

Want to know so I can attach mesh to the bottom of my hive for a Small Hive Beetle trap.

[Maryland Beekeeper]

You want #8 Hardware cloth. 1/8" squares. Can be a bit tricky to find, smallest many carry is 1/4. Ace has it around here.
Drew

[BlueBee]

Agree with Drew, you want 1/8 hardware cloth.  Sometimes Ace has it, sometimes they don't.  If you need it super fast, there is a vendor or two on Amazon that sells it.  Otherwise most of the bee supply houses sell it.  Not plugging any particular bee company, but I usually get mine from Brushy.

Oooops, I see you're in Australia!  Ace and Brushy probably don't mean anything to you.  Just check out what ever bee supply companies you have in Australia.  Some commercial beeks also carry hardware cloth as part of their inventory.  They might have some for you.

[Michael Bush]

#7 hardware cloth is the largest but a bent wire will let them through.  #6 they have to wiggle their way through.  #5 they can get through fairly easy but lose half their pollen in the process.  #5 will not let a queen or drones through.  #4 will let all bees through including drones and queens.

[Maryland Beekeeper]

oops. didn't notice you were down under. Somebody will have it, other Beeks for sure. Might want to try Natural Beekeeping Network, more Brits there.  :) Oh and consider using two pieces of 1/4" offset a very last resort, its a pain. You'll find it without to much trouble I'm confident.
Cheers,
Drew

[Mek]

So the calculations are: 1inch is eual to 25mm
25mm/8 = 3.125
Therefore I need to find wire mesh that is 3mm wide.

[Anybrew]

Hey Mek, I am using some gutter guard that I purchased from Bunnings, it seems the go and you can cut it with tin snips I will take a photo and show you.

Cheers
Steve

[Anybrew]