Mesh hole size to get bees above head height

Hi
Farmers where I keep bees have ordered some 2m mesh to screen the hives. Intention is to keep the bees above head height. They have ordered a mesh with a hole size 7x3mm.
Will this work of will the bees just crawl through the holes?
Alec

Eyeman said:

Will this work

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Yes.

Trellis with 100mm square holes is reported (by LASI) to work,

Thanks
Will let them know
Alec

I need it for my apiary and buy bog standard "2m debris netting" from EPay which is cheap as chips - and I can offer the neighbours an assortment of colours.

Eyeman said:

Hi
hole size 7x3mm. Will this work?
Alec

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Hivemaker. said:

Yes.

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I use wooden trellis with 5" x5" holes - the bees fly straight over - they don't bother trying to go through. I have spent ages watching them to see if I can catch the odd stray one taking a short cut - haven't succeeded yet!

bontbee said:

I use wooden trellis with 5" x5" holes - the bees fly straight over - they don't bother trying to go through. I have spent ages watching them to see if I can catch the odd stray one taking a short cut - haven't succeeded yet!

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Really that's very interesting would like to try that out one day. I have watched bees with mesh around the hives and bees seem to fly into it or just use it to land on, not many but a reasonable amount. I would have bet my boat on bees flying through trellis with five inch holes.

I have a trellis alongside the hive in my garden.

I can stand and watch the entrance from a foot away through the trellis and never had a bee come near or seen one fly through the trellis.

Davelin said:

I have a trellis alongside the hive in my garden.

I can stand and watch the entrance from a foot away through the trellis and never had a bee come near or seen one fly through the trellis.

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Me too!
E

I put trellis up to divert bees away from neighbours car the other side of the wall. It works when they leave the garden but I have seen some fly tho it on the return journey..Probably more luck than judgement though.

Their eyesight isn't very good acuity, so they cant fly through the gaps. Cargo nets are good because the bees can see them not particularly because of the. Finer mesh. Chicken wire works eventually as they seem not to be able to see it, but learn it is there in a couple of days. I have used trellis, chicken wire and cargo nets to push the bees up. They all work.

I think my bees are part of the Krypton factor. I tried pea netting last year (20mm holes). Thinking that the holes were much smaller than trellis, so it must work.

It reduced the flow of them, but most of them ignored it. They would bounce off it a few times before flying through a hole. I thought it might improve after six weeks (when the original bees would have died off) - it did, but only marginally. I might try double-thickness netting this year.

Would they see a cammo net?

I think the bees landing on the screens are those going on orientation flights, once they learn the pathways they just go right over.

Eyeman said:

Hi
Farmers where I keep bees have ordered some 2m mesh to screen the hives. Intention is to keep the bees above head height. They have ordered a mesh with a hole size 7x3mm.
Will this work of will the bees just crawl through the holes?
Alec

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How far back from the road will one have to start thinking about using this stuff. I might have to move my own bees into my field instead of my fathers (because he's a nutjob and doesnt want them on his land) but my land is lower to the road than where I have bees now. It got me thinking I might need this stuff to make them fly above head height.

irishguy said:

How far back from the road will one have to start thinking about using this stuff. I might have to move my own bees into my field instead of my fathers (because he's a nutjob and doesnt want them on his land) but my land is lower to the road than where I have bees now. It got me thinking I might need this stuff to make them fly above head height.

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Honour thy father and thy mother?

Tom Bick said:

Really that's very interesting would like to try that out one day. I have watched bees with mesh around the hives and bees seem to fly into it or just use it to land on, not many but a reasonable amount. I would have bet my boat on bees flying through trellis with five inch holes.

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I would have too!, (if I had one).

I had a doubled up layer of black pond netting ready to tack onto the trellis, thinking the same. But before I could get it fixed up, the bees amended their flights to a vertical take off to clear the trellis at 7', (and the 8' shed which forms another boundary to the apiary). The closest hives are about 18" away from the trellis, but the bees still fly up and over and not through. Clever little bees...

The closest hives are about 18" away from the trellis, but the bees still fly up and over and not through. Clever little bees

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I have seen my do the same but not in as short a space as that..

At full speed leaving the hives, my bees avoid the trellis by flying 30-60 cm over. The trellis has 100mm holes and 20mm bars. Thinner netting has some bouncing off. Around forage, they crawl or fly through trellis and nets, it doesn't put them off. My guess is a combination of speed and thickness of mesh means when they can see trellis they choose to avoid it rather than slowing down. Near forage, they move slowly so less reason to go round.

Dishmop said:

I have seen my do the same but not in as short a space as that..

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Is it such a short time span?...if the bees see the trellis as a solid object, which they seem to do, then they amend their flight line accordingly? If they didn't see it as solid, wouldn't they carry on flying on their original routes, ie through the holes? I can only go by what my bees do, though.