I have just read a couple of suggestions about this. I haven’t tried them, but might be worth a thought, because they cost pennies to do. One is a tablespoon of salt per gallon (or 4 liters) of water - apparently bees like a little salt, but I think Michael Bush disagrees… So the other possibility is 4ml of household bleach per 4 liters of water - makes it smell like a swimming pool, which bees seem to find attractive. That water is still OK for human consumption, by the way, so it shouldn’t poison your bees either - it is pretty close to what they will be drinking from a neighbor’s pool anyhow.
If you have a new water source for the bees to find, you might want to use a brilliant Michael Bush trick to make the bees re-orientate and explore. Get a large piece of shrub (or big potted plant), or a small tree branch which will obstruct the flight path out of the front of the hive, so that the bees have to fly through it as they try to leave. They will then do orientation flights on leaving the hive, and should explore for new items, like your water source. May not work, but easy to do, and worth a try!
I have a lemon grass plant next to my bee pond, I cut off some of its stems put in a blender with a couple tablespoons of water, blitzed it up spread around the pond. Bees found it and happily use the pond for their water. This has worked with two different nucs. I also made a “beach” we call it, fine rock (a bit bigger than rice size) sloping into the water, capillary action takes water up the rocks so bees don’t drown.
I would face the entrance away so people coming and going to the shed aren’t in view of the guard bees or in the path of the returning bees. In other words, in your picture I would be looking at the back of the hive.
I think you are right. It is easy to keep pets and people away from the hive. It is also the farthest point away from anyone’s deck or patio. It is close to the pool, but it’s completely surrounded by shed, fence, and chicken coop. I’ll put a small bird bath back there to keep their attention. I was worried about how shaded the area is, so I never gave this spot any consideration. But if you are saying it will work, than that is the spot I am going with. I can even push it back farther to have more room when I clean out the coop.
Only thing to plan for in that location would be water run off from the roof. A short flashing under the shingles or length of gutter. Wouldn’t want huge volumes of water hammering the lid
lol