Late winter mite count

I inspected both hives yesterday and did a powdered sugar dusting and a mite count.
There was a lot of pollen in the trays under the screened bottoms.  There were also a lot of small brown beetles in the pollen.  I tried to get a photo of one, but it was too blurry for publication.  There were also mites crawling around in the debris.  I cleaned out both trays, placed the sticky boards in and then opened the hives.

Wax being drawn on drone frame

There was some activity in the top box of the old hive.  Some wax had been drawn on the drone frame as well as on the frame abutting.
There were four frames of honey and nectar in the top box, three frames with brood and two with honey in the bottom box.  One drone was seen and some capped drone cells.  The queen wasn't spotted.....again.

Top of bottom box frames

Still nothing was going on in the top box of the new hive.  Just a few bees crawling around and no propolis.  On top of the bottom box frames there was a bit of brace wax. After inspecting, I scraped off the was so the powdered sugar would be able to fall between the frames.  There were two frames with brood and larvae and lots of pollen.  Queen not seen.....again.
I dusted both hives with powdered sugar and an hour later did a mite count on the sticky boards.  Old hive: 6; new hive:4.  No need to treat now.