busy busy bees

Hello all.
We're newbies, both to this site and to allotmenting as a whole - and we're on the beg for some advice.
The lovely people with the plot behind our new veggie haven keep bees. We were quite pleased about this when we took on the plot last autumn, after all, bees are a gardener's friend right?
Well these bees hate us.
In the last week, my father-in-law has been stung three times, I got stung tonight and my other half took a sting to the centre of the forehead when he came to my aid.
It's not like we are doing anything to rile them up either. They just fly into you and BAM!
Does anyone have any tips on what to do? I don't want to cause problems for our neighbours, but digging in a bee-keeping outfit may not be all that practical! :-)
Thank you
S

We haven't as yet - I haven't seen them about since the problem started. we did think about asking the other neighbours if they have had a problem, but didn't want it to seem as though we were ganging up. :-)

The problem here seems to be that bees fly straight out from the level of the hive launch platform (the door).

If there is an insect screen placed in front of the hive entrance at least 6 feet high, as suggested above, the bees will fly up and over the screen and stay at the 6 foot height as they fly out and back.

Might sound flippant but I mean this - if you speak to them as you work, they will know you are there and are no threat and will take the message back to the hive so other out-fliers know of your presence. I know I'll get some stick for this, but it happens to be true.

You could wear a hat and a mosquito net to protect your face but this isn't a long term solution.  6" high barrier sounds ideal but you obviously don't want to pay for that.

And yes, it is a council site.

in regards to allergys. my other half didnt have an allergy but he got stung 6 times and ended up in hospital. he is a gardener by trade and hardly gets stung and now he has to carry an epi pen so worth getting it sorted out