Removing the bottom board - big surprise

Because of the upcoming hot weather in the eastern US, I decided last night to remove the detachable bottom board from my bee hive.  The process went smoothly, until I found what had accumulated on the bottom board.

The bottom board with its assortment of beehive junk. 

An attempted close-up shot of the writhing pile. 

At first I only saw what looked like the typical junk that falls through the bottom screen of a beehive.  Usually you will see a lot of pollen, flecks of wax, and an occasional bee leg.  However, when I tool a closer look, I could see that this pile of junk was writhing with hundreds of small hive beetle larva.  Hive beetles are not native (honey bees aren't either) and can be blamed for the failure of many beehives since they were first seen in Florida in 1998.  It was a disturbing sight.

The remains of the hive junk after I dumped it in a pile on my concrete patio and employed my pest management solution. 

Initially, I figured I would just leave it sitting outside for the local wild birds to pick through tomorrow.  However, when I read one of my reference books on honey bee parasites, I discovered that these larva were actually at the stage in their life-cycle in which they leave the beehive and occupy the ground.  I went back outside and, sure enough, many of the hundreds of larva had started the march from the bottom board (now resting on my concrete patio) towards to lawn.  Needless to say, I dealt the matter quickly and effectively.  Wax and pollen mixed together are very flammable (I don't recommend anyone else trying my solution).