diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9d7c6f9..65bf1ef 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
     <groupId>org.xyro</groupId>
     <artifactId>kumulus</artifactId>
-    <version>0.1.41</version>
+    <version>0.1.42</version>
 
     <name>kumulus</name>
     <description>A lightweight, in-process, drop-in replacement for Apache Storm</description>
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/KumulusTopology.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/KumulusTopology.kt
index 5255fa3..60466bd 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/KumulusTopology.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/KumulusTopology.kt
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ class KumulusTopology(
     private val atomicThreadsInUse = AtomicInteger(0)
     private val atomicMaxThreadsInUse = AtomicInteger(0)
 
+    @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST")
+    private val lateMessagesStreamsToDrop: Set<String> = config[CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_STREAMS_NAME] as? Set<String> ?: emptySet()
+    private val lateMessagesShouldDrop: Boolean = config[CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_SHOULD_DROP] as? Boolean ?: false
+    private val lateMessageMaxWaitInNanos: Long = (config[CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_MAX_WAIT_SECONDS] as? Long ?: 10) * 1_000_000_000L
+
+
     private val scheduledExecutorPoolSize: Int =
         (config[CONF_SCHEDULED_EXECUTOR_THREAD_POOL_SIZE] as? Long ?: 5L).toInt()
     private val rejectedExecutionHandler = RejectedExecutionHandler { _, _ ->
@@ -58,6 +64,7 @@ class KumulusTopology(
     var onBusyBoltHook: ((String, Int, Long, Tuple) -> Unit)? = null
     var onBoltPrepareFinishHook: ((String, Int, Long) -> Unit)? = null
     var onReportErrorHook: ((String, Int, Throwable) -> Unit)? = null
+    var onLateMessageHook: ((String, Int, Long, Tuple) -> Unit)? = null
 
     @Suppress("MemberVisibilityCanBePrivate", "unused")
     val currentThreadsInUse: Int
@@ -92,6 +99,9 @@ class KumulusTopology(
         const val CONF_BOLT_QUEUE_PUSHBACK_WAIT = "kumulus.bolt.pushback.wait"
         const val CONF_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT_SECS = "kumulus.shutdown.timeout.secs"
         const val CONF_SCHEDULED_EXECUTOR_THREAD_POOL_SIZE = "kumulus.executor.scheduled-executor.pool-size"
+        const val CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_STREAMS_NAME = "kumulus.late-messages-dropping.streams-name"
+        const val CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_SHOULD_DROP = "kumulus.late-messages-dropping.should-drop"
+        const val CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_MAX_WAIT_SECONDS = "kumulus.late-messages-dropping.max-wait-seconds"
 
         @Suppress("unused")
         @Deprecated("Use CONF_READY_POLL_SLEEP instead")
@@ -290,18 +300,56 @@ class KumulusTopology(
             }
         } else {
             logger.trace { "Component ${c.componentId}/${c.taskId} is currently busy" }
-            if (onBusyBoltHook != null && message is ExecuteMessage) {
+            var shouldEnqueue = true
+            if (message is ExecuteMessage) {
+                val messageWaitStartTime =  c.waitStart.get()
+                if (messageWaitStartTime > 0){
+                    val delay = System.nanoTime() - messageWaitStartTime
+                    if ((delay >= lateMessageMaxWaitInNanos) &&
+                        lateMessagesStreamsToDrop.contains(message.tuple.kTuple.sourceStreamId)) {
+                        if (!message.isLate.get()){
+                            onLateMessageHook?.let { onLateMessageHook ->
+                                try {
+                                    scheduledExecutor.submit {
+                                        try {
+                                            onLateMessageHook(
+                                                message.component.componentId,
+                                                message.component.taskId,
+                                                delay,
+                                                message.tuple.kTuple
+                                            )
+                                        } catch (e: Exception) {
+                                            logger.error("An exception was thrown from busy-hook callback, ignoring", e)
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                } catch (e: Exception) {
+                                    logger.error("An exception was thrown by busy-hook thread-pool submission, ignoring", e)
+                                }
+                            }
+                            
+                            message.isLate.set(true)
+                        }
+
+                        if (lateMessagesShouldDrop){
+                            shouldEnqueue = false
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
                 c.waitStart.compareAndSet(0, System.nanoTime())
             }
-            if (queuePushbackWait <= 0L) {
-                boltExecutionPool.enqueue(message)
-            } else {
-                scheduledExecutor.schedule(
-                    {
-                        boltExecutionPool.enqueue(message)
-                    },
-                    queuePushbackWait, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS
-                )
+
+            if (shouldEnqueue){
+                if (queuePushbackWait <= 0L) {
+                    boltExecutionPool.enqueue(message)
+                } else {
+                    scheduledExecutor.schedule(
+                        {
+                            boltExecutionPool.enqueue(message)
+                        },
+                        queuePushbackWait, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS
+                    )
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/component/KumulusComponent.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/component/KumulusComponent.kt
index 0579d51..b367ed4 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/component/KumulusComponent.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/component/KumulusComponent.kt
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class SpoutPrepareMessage(component: KumulusComponent, collector: KumulusSpoutCo
 class BoltPrepareMessage(component: KumulusComponent, collector: KumulusBoltCollector) :
     PrepareMessage<KumulusBolt>(component, collector)
 
-class ExecuteMessage(component: KumulusComponent, val tuple: KumulusTuple) :
+class ExecuteMessage(component: KumulusComponent, val tuple: KumulusTuple, val isLate: AtomicBoolean = AtomicBoolean(false)) :
     KumulusMessage(component)
 
 class AckMessage(
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/TestDroppingStaleMessages.kt b/src/test/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/TestDroppingStaleMessages.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e9868d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/org/xyro/kumulus/TestDroppingStaleMessages.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+package org.xyro.kumulus
+
+import mu.KotlinLogging
+import org.apache.storm.Config
+import org.apache.storm.spout.SpoutOutputCollector
+import org.apache.storm.task.OutputCollector
+import org.apache.storm.task.TopologyContext
+import org.apache.storm.topology.BasicOutputCollector
+import org.apache.storm.topology.IRichBolt
+import org.apache.storm.topology.OutputFieldsDeclarer
+import org.apache.storm.tuple.Fields
+import org.apache.storm.tuple.Tuple
+import org.junit.Test
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong
+import kotlin.test.assertTrue
+
+class TestDroppingStaleMessages {
+    @Test
+    fun testLateBolt() {
+        val builder = org.apache.storm.topology.TopologyBuilder()
+        val config: MutableMap<String, Any> = mutableMapOf()
+        config[Config.TOPOLOGY_MAX_SPOUT_PENDING] = 1L
+        config[KumulusTopology.CONF_THREAD_POOL_CORE_SIZE] = 5L
+        config[KumulusTopology.CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_SHOULD_DROP] = true;
+        config[KumulusTopology.CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_STREAMS_NAME] = setOf("default");
+        config[KumulusTopology.CONF_LATE_MESSAGES_DROPPING_MAX_WAIT_SECONDS] = 1;
+
+        builder.setSpout("spout", LatencyDeltaSpout())
+
+        builder.setBolt("unanchoring-bolt", UnanchoringBolt())
+            .noneGrouping("spout")
+
+        builder.setBolt("delay-unanchored-bolt", StuckBolt())
+            .noneGrouping("unanchoring-bolt")
+
+
+        val stormTopology = builder.createTopology()!!
+        val kumulusTopology =
+            KumulusStormTransformer.initializeTopology(stormTopology, config, "test")
+
+        var lateHookCalled = false
+
+        kumulusTopology.onLateMessageHook = { _, _, _, _ ->
+            lateHookCalled = true
+        }
+
+        kumulusTopology.prepare(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+        kumulusTopology.start(block = false)
+        Thread.sleep(5000)
+        kumulusTopology.stop()
+
+        logger.info { "Dropped ${lateHookCalled} messages" }
+        assertTrue { lateHookCalled}
+    }
+
+    class LatencyDeltaSpout : DummySpout({
+        it.declare(Fields("id"))
+    }) {
+        private var index: Int = 0
+        private var lastCall: Long? = 0
+
+        override fun open(conf: MutableMap<Any?, Any?>?, context: TopologyContext?, collector: SpoutOutputCollector?) {
+            super.open(conf, context, collector)
+            this.index = 0
+            this.lastCall = null
+        }
+
+        override fun nextTuple() {
+            val now = System.nanoTime()
+            if (this.lastCall != null) {
+                val tookMillis = TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(now - this.lastCall!!)
+                sumWait.addAndGet(tookMillis)
+                if (tookMillis > 100) {
+                    logger.error { "Took $tookMillis to nextTuple" }
+                }
+                calledCount.incrementAndGet()
+            }
+            this.lastCall = now
+            val messageId = ++index
+            collector.emit(listOf(messageId), messageId)
+        }
+    }
+
+    class UnanchoringBolt : IRichBolt {
+        private lateinit var collector: OutputCollector
+
+        override fun execute(input: Tuple) {
+            collector.emit(input.values)
+            collector.ack(input)
+        }
+
+        override fun prepare(p0: MutableMap<Any?, Any?>?, p1: TopologyContext?, p2: OutputCollector?) {
+            this.collector = p2!!
+        }
+
+        override fun cleanup() = Unit
+
+        override fun getComponentConfiguration(): MutableMap<String, Any> {
+            return mutableMapOf()
+        }
+
+        override fun declareOutputFields(p0: OutputFieldsDeclarer) {
+            p0.declare(Fields("id"))
+        }
+    }
+
+    class StuckBolt : DummyBolt({
+        it.declare(Fields("id"))
+    }) {
+        override fun execute(input: Tuple, collector: BasicOutputCollector) {
+            logger.info { "StuckBolt: started" }
+            while (true){
+                Thread.sleep(50)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    companion object {
+        private val logger = KotlinLogging.logger {}
+        private val sumWait = AtomicLong(0)
+        private val calledCount = AtomicLong(0)
+    }
+}