for 3 yrs. my wife & i kept 8 hives on a postage-sized lot & never had
any serious incidents, even though our neighbors were mowing their
lawns only 10 yards away.  the biggest help was the construction of a
"bee fence" to go on top of the regular 4' high chainlink fence.  we added
another 4' of chicken wire, forcing the bees "up and over" before leaving
our yard.  even when they returned, they had to drop in from high levels.
 this kept them out of the dangerous"swatting zone".  nobody batted at
them, so no response was necessary.  we also constantly "coached"
our neighbors about proper beeyard etiquette & plied them with LOTS of
delicious honey!  frank fox  nashville, tn