a couple of Paul Hosticka snips followed by > my comments.. 
1) Because I have no other explanation does not prove a hypothesis.

2) But the mite loads do not correspond to the brood level in my observation.

3)Still plenty of questions but what I do know is that a late summer, early fall course of treatment will leave you with a percentage of colonies with dangerous and growing mite loads.

>1) of course it does not disprove the hypothesis either. I would say this entire mite bomb hypothesis only got me to thinking when one or two commercial guys (who treat all the time and at increased frequency) told me they had mite problems because some 'local' hobbyist did not treat.  typically arrangement was one guy with 100 hives on one side of a fence line and another with 2 on the other and neither really having any concrete information on what one or the other did or did not do.  Casually it just looks to me like something else was in play beside mites migrating from one hive to the other.

>2) interesting observation...

>3) same thing happens here with 'no treatment hives' and these typically (without manipulation or treatment) will fail by mid 'spring'. I (over time) simply work out a strategy to deal with these and being a fairly utilitarian beekeeper work out a means/strategy of using these resources without resorting to any treatment that will contaminate comb. Basically all of these get utilized for nuc making or for rearing queens.  

Best to you...

Gene in Central Texas...

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