Natalie North
News staff
On the market for a new tractor? Truckload of spearmint honey?
These items and others are up for grabs at Babe’s Honey Farm during a sale and auction to liquidate the assets of the now defunct business, which had been a Saanich institution since the 1940s.
Babe’s went into receivership in February following the December arrest of owner Mark Pitcher of Pitcher & Associates Public Accountants Inc. Pitcher was accused of seven counts of fraud over $5,000, totaling $956,945.
It is alleged that between April 1, 2004 and May 19, 2010, Pitcher told clients they owed money to the Receiver General of Canada and used the funds to finance either Babe’s Honey Farm or his accounting firm.
On May 23, Abbotsford’s Joiner Sales Corp. won a bid to take possession of Babe’s assets.
On June 28 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Joiner will host a viewing, including heavy duty machinery to be auctioned off.
The auction runs from 10 a.m. on June 29.
Candles and honey, including a large volume of clover and spearmint varieties, are on sale in the farm store at 20- 30-per-cent off of regular price.
“We’ve been doing booming, bustling, business around here,” said Joiner’s Bruce Marshall, adding that the sale will continue for as long as he still has honey. “And I’ve got a fair bit of honey.”
Tractors, backhoes, hive boxes, and equipment for woodworking, wax-melting and wine-making will be up for auction.
The honeybees, 170 colonies of them, have already been sold between local hobby farms and a honey farm in Port Alberni.
“There are no minimum bids with us,” Marshall said. “We don’t want to leave with anything. When I go into a place, I go in with nothing and I leave with nothing.”
The farm is located at 334 Walton Pl. The store is open from 10 a.m. -6 p.m. daily and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sundays.
nnorth@saanichnews.com
