Hi
I find that *looking* at bees is a very poor way of finding mites. Colonies
with high mite loads *appear* to have very few on their backs. That is why I
prefer to ether roll them. I can only assume the mites are hided on the bees,
like you say. This summer, however, I saw a hive that was so heavily infested
there were a couple of mites clearly visible on the back of the queen.

pb