I always enclose my base area with a stakewall which I put far enough from the house that trolls can't swing through the stakewall and hit the house directly. I usually put the bees in that gap between one side of the house and the stakewall.

As for "open meadow" I say no. They will get destroyed if totally unprotected. However, I have successfully had both bees and gardens outside my main compound generally be ignored if completely enclosed by a round-pole fence (have to hop over to get in). However during a troll attack one day they got trashed and I learned a hard lesson ... you get back 100% of materials when something is destroyed -- except crops -- lost all my carrots and seeds.

Pretty much since then, I keep everything inside the compound (and save a stash of extra seeds just in case).

You can also get creative if you like, you could add a second floor to your barn and put the bees above your pigs and see if that works. You can also "hang" the bee hives - attach a beam to the side of your house and attach the "peak" of the hive to the beam ... will look kind of like an huge hanging lantern.