Posting Signs
Putting up signage around the beehive to notify passersby of the soon to arrive bees. This way the experiment should avoid any tampering or disturbance.
This is a feeder system I purchased online to provide my bees with sugar water as they are establishing themselves in the hive before the first nectar flow of spring. I used a radius and spoon gouge to create an inset for the feeding grate to sit in without taking up too much space. I drilled a hole for the tubes to pass through the wall and will fixed the bottle adaptor to the outside of the hive with screws. At this point, I realized my oversimplification of this feeder. For the grate to maintain a level of sugar water without overfilling, the bottle adaptor must be installed at the same level, which does not function well with the design of the hive being split at the bottom there.
At this point, I decided to go with my second, more simple feeding option. This one has a grate fixed directly to the bottle adaptor without use of tubing. I carved out the area around where the feeder emerges to make more of it accessible for feeding. Coincidentally, the inset carved to hold the grate of the other feeder functioned to catch any overflow this feeder may spill without getting the whole hive-floor wet.
I set up the simple feeder with water to test how well it holds liquid without leaks for a few weeks. Moss collected from nearby tree branches served as an excellent medium to absorb what may spill from the feeder. I marked the volume of the feeder, and returned the next day, and after a weekend to check how the feeder was holding up. After some wind and precipitation, I would say it performed adequately well, without any pooling inside of the hive.