I don't think I have seen a SHB large enough that could NOT fall through #8. And I have plenty of SHBs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When you posted that reply it made me wonder if I was 100% sure that I had seen SHB that wouldn't fit through #8, but then this morning I found this guy on a sticky board:
So, unless that is some other beetle that just looks exactly like a SHB, then as you can see (that is #8 hardware cloth that he is on) some of them are too big to go through #8. I wish it wasn't so.
He was alive, but moving slow because of the cool weather so I'm thinking (hoping) that the bees may root most of them out over the winter. I'm going to put the oil trays back in to make sure they don't get back up once they fall down.
BTW, better bee contacted me and said that their website was incorrect, and they
don't have any #7, so I'm still looking again. I think when (if) I find some I will absolutely spring for a whole roll.