Mike,

>>...flick an inch or so of bees off with each short stroke, working your way to the other end bar.

I've tried brisk flicking with a nylon brush.  Definitely a slow process.

Have you ever used feathers?  They have the perfect ratio of edge flexibilty and overall stiffness for a very efficient operation.  Goose wing feathers are the perfect length for a deep frame.

I don't shake/thump the frames to get most of the bees off (I feel it may dislodge/harm the larvae in the cells - it can definitely harm the queen if she hits a frame top the wrong way...) so if a frame has a thick layer of bees, brushing is a slow process.  With a wing, I can easily sweep a bunch of bees off at a time without making them angry.  It also takes a bit of wrist practice. :) 

The feathers are great at dislodging adult bees that are partially in the cells without harming them.  Brush bristles don't have enough stiffness to get the partially submerged bees out in one stroke.  You ought to try it.

Another plus: if you have access to a source, goose wing tips can be had for free... unlike a brush. :)

BTW, my bees started to raise brood at the end of January (a bit early but we've had a mild winter) and a week ago I saw them coming back one day with multi-colored pollen (definitely very early for mid-February in this neck of the woods).  I saw a few crocuses open up a few days ago.  Now it's back to freezing weather once more...

I treated half of my hives with double the oxalic acid concentration (same as last year) and the other half with the prescribed concentration in November.

At this point all the queens are doing fine and laying.  It would appear my queen problems from a year ago, were due to another factor.  It's hard for me to attribute it to the August treatment with Sucrocide a year ago but this is the only difference between that year and last year.

Waldemar
Long Island, NY

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