This is our hive at the Westminster Community Garden in San Diego, CA. I am willing to answer any specific questions if it would help you. 
The hive has been in the Garden for 2 years, and apart from ant attacks, it has done very well. In fact this month it is the strongest of our 3 hives in the region. The fence you see around it is a mesh fence on T-posts with insect screen zip-tied to it to make a 6 foot high “flyover barrier”. Some gardeners are a little afraid of the bees, but we have had no reports of stings, and generally people are very supportive of the hive.
As we are in an africanized bee area (like you) we make sure that we have gentle Hawaiian-bred marked Italian queens, for the protection of the community.