Question: Is there a difference between pollen beetles and hive beetles? I received a free brochure from the department of Agriculture and Fisheries and it says the identity of any beetles should be confirmed as they can be confused with pollen beetles. Does anyone have a comparison photo of what they look like? Cheers
What an interesting question!
This is a pollen beetle. There are many different ones, but this one looks most like a hive beetle. It is called Meligethes aeneus:
http://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/pollen-beetle
On the other hand, this is the dreaded Small Hive Beetle (SHB), curse to beekeepers. Its Latin name is Aethina tumida:
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/small_hive_beetle.htm
Any beetle in my hives is not welcome. I am sorry, but I will squish them. If your bees are in an SHB area, I would set up traps and preventative measures, if not and the SHB regions are far away, I would just squish anyway. But perhaps I am too ruthless! 
Dawn
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Thanks Dawn,
I live in Eumundi QLD, Australia.
By the look of the pictures you gave the link to, I have pollen beetle and not hive beetle.
The bees seem to have them under control by chasing them onto the corflute slider sheet at the bottom of the hive.
Yes, I squash them as well. The whole of australia is an SHB area so I am checking every day. So far my hive is growing and is healthy.
Sharon
Not true, no shb over here in the West.
Do pollen beetles infiltrate hives?
That’s good news. I got my information from a map on Google showing where SHB was in Australia and it covered the whole of Australia. It goes to show that Google is not always 100% right.
If there is pollen in the hive then I am pretty sure pollen beetles will go after it. That’s what I think I have in my hive, but I am a novice and so any help I appreciate. When I got my hive checked by a local beekeeper he didn’t say anything about a couple of beetles, so I don’t know.
Maybe someone else in this forum can tell us if pollen beetles infiltrate hives.
Cheers
Sharon