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PRESERVING LAND Land trust, King County purchase at a quick pace. Page 5
COMMUNITY | Take a hike on the south end. [12] SPORTS | Hydroplane race has a new winner. [15] ARTS | ‘Gypsy’ will light up the [10] boards this weekend.
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014
Vol. 59, No. 28
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Honeybee decline causes concern on Vashon Some call for ban of certain pesticides By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Bob Dixon has been raising bees on Vashon for nearly 20 years, but after losing two hives this spring, he is not sure how long he will continue. These losses were not like those that beekeepers routinely experience in the winter, Dixon said, but abnormal and indicative of the loss of bees currently happening on an international scale. The hives, located in different parts of the island, were thriving and had plenty of food when he checked them. When he checked them again less than a month later, there were no bees left in one and only dead bees in the other.
FOURTH ON THE WATER Quartermaster Harbor was a busy place this Fourth of July, as boaters from Vashon and surrounding areas dropped anchors in the bay to enjoy the water and watch the annual fireworks display. The show, sponsored each year by The Hardware Store Restaurant and other donors, went off without a hitch and again drew hundreds of people to watch from the perimeter of the harbor. As darkness fell on the water, powerboats full of partiers quieted and sailboat mast lights twinkled, a scene that photographer Ray Pfortner, who captured this photo, called magical.
Ray Pfortner Photo
“I am really at a crossroads. I have a lot of equipment, but not a lot of hives,” he said. “It’s an expensive proposition.” Dixon believes the cause of his missing bees is Colony Collapse Disorder, where seemingly healthy bees abandon their hives en masse. He attributes the loss of both hives to a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics, used in many lawn and garden products and in other pesticide applications, such as flea and termite control. These chemicals, derived from nicotine, act as a nerve poison and are increasingly in the news for their potential link to bee deaths worldwide. On Monday the Natural Resources Defence Council filed a legal petition against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asking the EPA to withdraw its SEE BEES, 19
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
Margot Boyer, one of many beekeepers on Vashon, lost several hives over the winter. She believes her bees died of natural causes, but is concerned about the role pesticides may play in many bee deaths.
From hydros to dogs, responders see a number of holiday incidents By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
Officials responded to a number of holiday-related emergencies over Fourth of July weekend, including an accident during the annual hydroplane race around the island. “It was a busier fourth than normal,” said Assistant Chief George Brown of Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR). Brown said VIFR crews responded to the hydroplane incident, where no one was injured, and also transported one person to the hospital for a fireworksrelated injury on the Fourth of July. They also put out three brushfires caused by fireworks, and on Saturday rescued a dog that had become stuck deep in a bog after running from its home during fireworks. Brown said there were a higher number of emergency calls on the Fourth both on Vashon and throughout King County compared with past years. He said he believes there may have been more firework activity this year because the holiday fell on a Friday. “When you combine these things
with the weekend, it changes people’s mentality,” he said. The first emergency call came early in the morning on Friday, when one of the hydroplanes participating in the annual race around the island flipped just off the north-end ferry dock. Paul Hoffmann, who said his boat flipped after hitting a wave wrong, was pulled out of the water and had his boat towed to shore by a boater that follows the hydros every year. Hoffmann was uninjured, but the Coast Guard and King County Sheriff’s Office both responded after someone reported the accident, and Hoffmann was issued a ticket for not wearing the proper life jacket (he was wearing a racing life vest) and not carrying a boater education card. The citation totalled less than $200, according to Dept. Charlie Akers with the King County Sheriff’s Office’s marine unit. For decades hydros have been racing around the island at dawn on the Fourth of July, and for years officials with the King County Sheriff’s SEE HOLIDAY, 18