Another battery needed?

I wandered up to the orchard this morning to liberate the chickens. I glanced up in to the apple tree, and noted that the swarm was no longer there. I checked the nucleus hive, that I put out yesterday, in the hope that the swarm had taken up residence.  Unfortunately the box was empty, and there was no obvious sign that the swarm had settled elsewhere in the orchard ... this is not a huge disaster as I have, potentially, five viable colonies in the apiary at the moment.

Shortly after breakfast I headed out with Hobson and TB for our usual walk. On our return I could see that 'Chelle had dropped in for morning coffee, so a fun hour was spent chatting with her and 30% on the patio.

In the afternoon I assembled another batch of frames, as these are needed for the demo hive that I will be taking to my beekeeping talk on Tuesday.

I then wheeled the Honda from the garage, turned on the fuel tap, and attempted to get her started. I expected some reluctance, as I had been advised to run her, with the fuel tap off, until the carbs were drained of petrol, when I put her into storage at the end of last year.  With each push of the starter button, the engine turned over, and fuel was pulled in to the carbs. Unfortunately the battery was less and less vigorous with each attempt, and I gave up before I killed it. The bike was returned to the garage and reconnected to its trickle charger.

I retired to the house and idled away an hour, before returning to the garage. This time she fired up straight away. I threw on my jacket, helmet and gloves and headed off down the lane. I didn't go far, as she is not yet taxed, and there is no way I am going to tax her this close to the end of the month.*

The ride out was lovely and, despite being cautious because of new tyres, the little Honda still delights on twisty roads.  I made a resolution to get out on her as much as possible,** having finally got her back in running order.  She needs a little tidying up, but still looks lovely and is in great condition for a thirty year old motorcycle. Perhaps, as it suggests in the title of today's entry, a new battery might be needed?

So those were the newsworthy items from today. The only other news was that our gate installer called to say that he'll be here at the beginning of June ... as soon as he gets back from his three week tour of Scotland!

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* If you reading this and are unfamiliar with UK road fund licensing, every vehicle used on British roads must have paid its Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). This can be purchased for a 12 or 6 month period. Any vehicle without VED must have made a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN), and must not be used on the road until the VED is paid. VED can only be purchased for full months, so if you pay the VED after the first day of the month, one will be paying VED for days already passed.

** Obviously I rode her to our new house, when we moved here in 2021, but her fuel pipes and carburettors became inoperable due to damage by modern fuels shortly afterwards, so she hadn't been ridden for a good five years before she headed off for refurbishment last year. I can't remember the last time I rode her on a regular basis ... I'll bet that it's ten years, or more, since she was last ridden in anger.