How to Survive If You Disturb a Beehive

Get ready to act as soon as you realize that you have hit a hive.
Striking a hive or nest will likely provoke a strong defensive response from the bees.
Do not swat.
Never swat at honeybees or wasps. Swatting may incite them to sting when they otherwise had no intention of doing so.
Run from the nest.
Bees and wasps can fly faster than you can run. However, the farther you get from the nest, the less likely they will be to follow you. When you are stung by a bee or wasp, you are marked with an alarm pheromone and other bees and wasps will continue the attack in response to the chemical. The intensity of the attack will continue to increase if you do not continue fleeing the hive area. Extremely defensive colonies may pursue you for half a mile.
Cover your face and head with your shirt or jacket.
Bees and wasps usually focus their attack on the head and face. While running, pull your shirt or jacket up over your head, leaving only a small slit to see where you are going. A honeybee will lose its stinger and die once it stings, but a wasp can sting multiple times.
Run for cover.
Find the nearest enclosure: a car with the windows rolled up or a building are both good options.
Do not jump into water.
The bees will orient to your air bubbles on the surface and will remain there, stinging you each time you come up for air.

IF YOU ARE STUNG

When you reach safety, quickly remove all the stingers by scraping them out with your fingernails, a credit card, or whatever is handy. Use a sideways motion; do not pinch the area. Seek medical attention if you have multiple stings.

Do not wear body fragrances such as scented creams, perfumes, and after-shave lotions. They may attract bees, and may incite an attack.
Do not blow at or near a hive; bee and some wasp colonies react defensively to mammalian breath.
Look for head-butting. Extremely defensive honey bee colonies will have a few bees patrolling the immediate vicinity of the nest. When approached they will begin to head-butt you in an effort to encourage you to leave. If this occurs, leave the area immediately.

Honeybee colonies are perennial, while wasp colonies develop in the spring and die in the fall. Both wasp and bee colonies reach their population zenith during the summer months.
Vibrations from a golf cart may elicit a defensive reaction from the hive or nest.
A swarm of honeybees may settle on a tree branch or on the overhang of a structure. These bees are looking for a new home, and such swarms are not usually defensive.
Wasp colonies are usually much smaller than those of bees, and their paper nests are often exposed, leaving them more easily disturbed. Some wasp species build large enclosed nests that hang from tree branches.