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West Coast Seeds buzzing about new acquisition

Business is buzzing at West Coast Seeds. The Ladner-based company added another brand to its growing family by acquiring Ladner’s Urban Bee Supplies.
urban bee
Urban Bee Supplies president Aaron Saks and West Coast Seeds sales rep Rebecca Kouwenhoven with a bee hive at West Coast Seeds. West Coast Seeds has added Urban Bee to its family.

Business is buzzing at West Coast Seeds.

The Ladner-based company added another brand to its growing family by acquiring Ladner’s Urban Bee Supplies.

Urban Bee, located on Ladner Trunk Road, will continue to sell beekeeping supplies and education online and out of its warehouse and retail location as well as at West Coast Seeds’ retail location on Elliott Street.

Urban Bee provides honey bees, beekeeping supplies, support, education and expertise to beekeepers, and those interested in the greater understanding of the hive. The company does it with the purpose of supporting the growth of healthy colonies and raising the understanding of the honey bee as a whole.

Urban Bee president Aaron Saks, who is also the director of finance at West Coast Seeds, said this was a natural fit to combine the two companies.

“The companies will work closely together,” said Saks. “We’ve been doing a lot of work with pollinators lately, so we had some wildflower blends that are specifically curated to attract pollinators and bees in particular. Anytime we post about bees and pollinators we’ve seen big jumps in sales and popularity so it was a natural fit for us.

“In this backyard industry, most people have a garden, might want to have a hive, might want to have a birdfeeder, which we also sell, so it’s a perfect synergy and a perfect fit.”

To help celebrate the new acquisition, West Coast Seeds is hosting Bees & Seeds – a love story, a free community event on Thursday, Aug. 1 at 6 p.m.

There will be a session on the basics of beekeeping, plant pollinating and friendly gardens, demonstrations on how a bee hive works and honey extraction as well as honey tasting and a question and answer session at its warehouse location at 5300-34B Avenue.

Saks said they have 75 people registered so far, but can accommodate up to 150.

Register online here.

“This acquisition enables us to have more economies of scale, cater to our existing customers as well as new customers, beekeeping customers and seed customers. We are really trying to take over your backyard and be that go-to place to also support the environment and support sustainability,” he said.