I have experienced some of these phenomena myself.

(1) on similar experiences,
(i)  For a number of years I was able to mow up to about 3 meters from a
hive with a petrol driven mower.  The very first occasion that I used an
electric mower I suddenly had this pain around my ankles at about 6 meters
from the same hive.  Then I noticed thousands of bees stinging the
lawnmower.  They didn't stop at that and promptly moved over to my
neighbours cattle about 100 meters away.
Although anecdotal; during the late eighties and early nineties, while I was
trying to undertake a study on the history of beekeeping in South Africa, I
met with some old folk who had lived during the Anglo Boer War. One chap of
German decent who was 93 years of age at the time, told me that his father
had enticed bees to set upon some British guards at a concentration camp by
offering these chaps some carrots and honey comb.  He then placed the carrot
tops at the entrance to a feral colony about 50 yards away and ran away.
The soldiers who were enjoying the honey soon had defensive bees around them
and they were forced abandon their post.
(ii) I once found a nice clean site under electrical power lines, but found
the bees became extremely agitated. This lasted each day for the whole day
for a week. Once I moved them away they calmed down to their normal
defensive level, which I was used to.
In the Highveld, we have a fairly high intensity of electric storms.  These
tend to build up very quickly without notice.  One can be working well in an
apiary and not notice a cloud build up above you, before the bees suddenly
change temperament, firstly stinging any body that is unfamiliar with bees.
I have found with consistency that beekeeping initiates are always the first
to become stung, even though I don't wear all the protective clothing I
insist they wear.  You only realise why the bees are so angry when you hear
the first thunder.
(iii) On my plot in the south of Johannesburg I am able to get my bees to
build their comb in straight lines on top bars without any starter strip,
provided I have the hive facing north south. On our plot in the Magalisberg
where there is a fair amount of iron in the ground the bees will build in
any direction.  When I was on a visit to Germany, I was shown a glass hive
which had a large magnet underneath it.  The bees had built their combs in
an almost circular fashion.
(vi) When I was experimenting using natural HDPE plastic sheet to build
hives, I found the bees build up a charge in the hive.  The bees coming in
from the field would literary get stuck to the walls.  This made them very
agitated. But yet with other plastic compounds to provide UV protection
(such as carbon black), the bees don't have the same discomfort.


 (2) on possible reasons for this phenomenon and (3) possible practical
applications of the reasons.
(i) First of all, bees don't like the smell of cut grass, carrot leaves,
compost or horse sweat (to name a few).  I had cut grass dumped within 6
meters of a hive and found the bees were soon in a frenzy.  Possibly the
smell is either offensive to them, or similar to their defensive alerting
pheromone
(ii) The magneto receptors although so minute within the bee could be
disarranged by an electric field.  Another factor maybe the smell omitted by
the "electrical short circuit" which occurs when the motor is set in motion,
there sparking across from the high voltage line or the build up of a
lightning strike.
(iii) Magneto particles could also play a role in the attitude of the
colony.  If it remains constant they don't seem to show any signs of stress
and will live in harmony with it, but the minute these magnetic fields are
changed through current moving through a conductor or around a winding the
bees are put on edge.  (Maybe home doesn't feel like home any more!) Bees
are often found in Electrical panels, but as soon as there is strong current
use, they seem to become finicky
(iv) Bees don't like being held down whether it is static magnetism or a
finger. Carbon black acts as an earthing material in plastics preventing
static build up.

Hope my contribution adds to your mental stimuli

Eddy Lear