I agree. I have my hives in the middle of my horse pasture, but if they weren't fenced in I think they would knock them over. They would run away afterward, but that wouldn'thelp the bees much. The bees don't bother the horses much (the bees don't care about the fence) and with the fence, the horses don't bother the bees much.
I did have a yearling mare reach over the fence and knock over a lot of equipment which she then drug out and stomped on for fun. She also ate (yes I said ate) an empty deep box.
I should have put the boxes further from the fence.