Hi Richard
 
It's interesting that the bees chase your swallows. I have swallows
nesting in my barn every year and the bees have never bothered them that I
have seen. I also have a bluebird box close to the hives that is usually
occupied by tree swallows. Also no problems that I have seen. Of course,
I have never had more than 10-12 hives at this location. Maybe numbers
have something to do with it.
 
I have been in the cranberry bogs when the pollinators were there and
didn't find them to be particularly ornery. I wasn't working them but I
was walking around the hives and wore no veil. My experience there is
limited, though.
 
The blueberries in Maine are something else. I have spent time there
working the bees. Some of them are just average bees, others are moved
every three days to accomplish saturation pollination - those are mean,
especially the morning after a move. Working them the morning after a
move is good practice for dealing with Africanized bees.
 
I will post more information about all this as it becomes available.
 
Regards
 
Dick