I'd think it would at least make access more difficult for them, perhaps even injure them. Depends on how badly they want in I guess. Chicken wire or even 1/2" hardware cloth would improve their odds while keeping the rabbits out.

Dave

1/4" should be ok for honey bees to pass through. 1/8" is what is usually used by beekeepers to restrict bee access or to contain bees. There might be some overly large bees that might have trouble with the 1/4" but that really would be an exception. Now, the question is whether the honey bee will go to the trouble of passing through the 1/4" mesh...if they have a heavy load of pollen on their legs this might cause them a problem or at least cause them to lose the pollen when they pass between the wires.

I agree with Dave that 1/2" or even better the chicken wire, would be more honey bee friendly. With 1/4" the bee will have to land, crawl through the hole, then fly again to the flower. Chicken wire would allow them to fly through unrestricted.

Forget about any bumbles passing through 1/4" mesh...they're big.

I do have a question...do you have the hardware cloth over the top of the strawberries? It sounds like you have the plants completely enclosed in the 1/4" HC. I know you mentioned you didn't want to extend your rabbit fencing, but could the hardware cloth be arranged in a mini-fence orientation whereas the top side is open?

Best wishes,

Ed

Thanks all, two good ideas. I did not have extra chicken wire when I urgently needed to cover up the bed, but I do now. Swapping it out will be the best course.

I will also try using the hardware cloth as an extra "gate" surrounding the bed. The plants are already in a raised bed, but "my" rabbits are huge--they'd probably barrel right over it if I don't get it right. No matter how many ornamentals I leave to them, plus clover, plantain, and other foods they have available, the rabbits always seem to have a favorite that I wanna eat!

Gardening is so challenging in a fun way--always something else to think about...hope I remembered pollination (duh) in time!

This question just popped into my head. Why is it called 'hardware cloth'?

I used hardware cloth to fence in my chicken coop/run and fat bumblebees can get thru it (they're actually carpenter bees looking to drill into the 4x4 posts inside).

eta that my HC is 1/2' openings

Most people use 1/2" on their coops which would be plenty large enough for a any bee, but I don't know what size yours is. Bumble bees are normally a bit larger than carpenter bees. Of course, if they're going through 1/4" then, well...they're going through 1/4". :)

Interesting side note... I was at a beekeepers' meeting a few years ago where a guy brought a 1x8 board (probably 3' long) to show. This was a board that a couple carpenter bees had bored into. This guy had resawn the 1x8 board creating two identical boards that were each half the thickness of the original one. What it revealed was truly amazing...a maze of tunnels winding throughout the board weakening the wood....amazing!!!!! I understand now why carpenter bees can be so destructive structurally and just not cosmetically.

Ed

why not leave rabbit food in bowl outside the fence. feed the rabbits so they are not hungry. I have done strawberries and never had problems with the rabbits. I am thinking they were not hungry because there was plenty off food around. I never used a fence. they never bothered my gardens.

I have a chipmunk problem anything red they after strawberry, tomato ect what type of fence would work ? they went right thru the chicken wire last year.

1/2" mesh hardware cloth *should* work okay to exclude chipmunks. The common mesh size of smaller "chicken wire" is 1" mesh...the common mesh-size of chicken wire is 2". To absolutely be sure, you could go with 1/4" wire, but I think that would be overkill. Best wishes.

Okay Thank You. I want to have all the humming birds and bees I will only fence off the plants that are needed to keep the pests out mainly Chipmunks and deer!

The hardware cloth won't keep the bees out.