Well, #8 is what I call "honey bee fence". So that would keep out honeys and any bees or other bugs bigger than that. The question is, can it be smaller than that? How small can it be that mosquitos will freely fly through it? Because I'd want to keep as many other insects out of it as possible, so the smallest size that would let easily mosquitos through would be what I'd want. I don't know if #10 or #12 hardware cloth would work. I also don't know if you can find the smaller sizes locally. I only have one hardware store in my area that carries #8.