Russell Apiaries

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Originally Posted by Vance G

Does proactive mean not expecting UPS employees to do the job they are paid for? I will never forget the first time i heard that word. We were supposed to be Proactive in eliminating Buzz Words from our official correspondence! Of course that was a guvmint job during the Clinton Administration.

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Ever heard the saying "Trust, but verify."?

I'm just telling you what I do when I am expecting queens in the Mail or via UPS. When I invest thousands of dollars into something as fragile and important I do what I can to ensure successful delivery.

But, if you want to depend on others doing their job, well, what can I say?

Okay, a number of you don't like the word "proactive". What word would you like to be used to describe doing what one can to ensure successful delivery of queens?

It's important to develop a relationship with your local PO if you get queens in the mail. I always go into the PO a couple of days before and tell them I'm expecting bees. I also wrote a letter to the postmaster about how helpful and good his employees were [well deserved]. I get a call about 6 am when the bees hit the PO and they take great care of them. I think proactive is the correct word for it.

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Originally Posted by sqkcrk

Okay, a number of you don't like the word "proactive".

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It's just a word. Properly used, as you did, the word itself is fine. In my case, I associate it with a fool who misused it. If I live long enough, I may get over it.

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Originally Posted by sqkcrk

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Okay, a number of you don't like the word "proactive". What word would you like to be used to describe doing what one can to ensure successful delivery of queens?

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How about..."Covering your butt"? Oh wait a minute, that's two, no wait a minute, three, yeah three words. Yeah that's my final answer!!! Uh, wait a minute, you said you only wanted one word....uh, I got it!!!....

"Kuvrhennurbuhtski".

...and here's the story!!!!!

My great, great, great, great, great Scottish grandfather discovered it while on a journey in southern India riding an elephant back in 1743 (might have been 1742 but I wasn't there so I can't be sure). Anyhow, after journeying for several days his derriere became dreadfully pained from sitting on the rough back of his ornery elephant and made the comment that it felt like a swarm of bees had stung his backside. The mahout who was managing the elephants was actually a royal descendent of Oleg of Novgorod of what would become known one day as the Russian Empire. The mahout had come to India to avoid imprisonment by the then established Russian Empire for heading up a black market potato smuggling ring. He bragged about being the only redheaded mahout in all of India and was seen by his peers as being some kind of "elephant whisperer".

Anyhow, the locals were really gossipers and the mahout eventually found out about my great, great, great, great, great Scottish grandfather's plight. The mahout told him to take the cloth wrapped around his head and sit on it. My great, great, great, great, great Scottish grandfather asked him why and with a heavy Slavic accent the mahout told him "The elephant's back is too rough for your tenders...you need something "Kuvrhennurbuhtski". My great, great, great, great, great Scottish grandfather was so elated with this wonderful discovery that he wrote several papers on the subject and sent them by special courier back to the Edinburgh University Faculty of Medicine.

Unfortunately, as the story unfolds, the courier opted to sail across the Arabian Sea to Africa and take the North African Route back to Scotland. It was during the courier's travel across the African continent that he and his party encountered a large band of cannibals and had breakfast with them...and lunch, and supper. My great, great, great, great, great Scottish grandfather eventually returned to Scotland expecting a hero's welcome but sadly arrived to find out that his life's greatest accomplishment, his papers on "Kuvrhennurbuhtski" had failed to arrive. He died a broken-hearted jake in an alley behind the University in Edenburgh sitting on an old, tattered (and soiled...YUCK!!) piece of what once was some white cloth. A sad, sad story but I felt that I had to share this. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sad023.gif

Wiping tears from my eyes,
Ed

Yer werkin' 2 hard Ed. I didn't read the story at all after I read "cover your butt". If it isn't being proactive, I don't know what it is. All I know is, if Ido everything I can to make things work and queens arrive dead, then I know I have a claim.

Russell sent me some queens last year and they arrived just fine.

I think we get the point. Some folks haven't gotten satisfactory service. Too bad those who have are not as vocal. But that isn't how people work. The satisfied never speak as loudly or as often as the dissatisfied. I don't know the answers to those who have not gotten what they ordered. Find a more dependable source, I guess.

Very Interesting, sounds like you came from a great bloodline!! Truly amazing story, thought for a minute that you were going to say that the ole grandfather brought the Moonbeams back from North Africa. Tell me, did he pick up a few Arabian or Syrian line of bees??

If Russel Apiaries is no longer selling to individuals, what about their outlets across the Nation? Will they still be supplying Russell Apiaries queens?

The subproducers will be selling to the local hobbist market. That way there will be better customer service and still have the selection and most will be acclimated to those areas. All lines sold by the subproducers will come for RA breeders. Some will simply be open mated and a few will be mated in isolated areas with them flooded with drones. Robert has been proactive on getting the situation straightened out. A few of us are already shipping and trying to help catch up the backlog. But most are still ramping up for next year.

I do hope this works out, Beetrucker. Russell's has apparently had a good reputation in years past and I hope that they can correct the problems that appeared once they ventured into the hobbiest area and retain that good reputation. From what I understand (as a newbee) the honey bee gene pool has gotten smaller as time has progressed. There are many areas where only hobbyists reside and these areas can use all the varied genes possible, excluding AHB of course.

Ed

Beetrucker74; Keep us posted on you actions, will want some spring queens.

The Moonbeam queen I got on June 24th is one of my top queens this year. If she lives through winter she will be one of my two breeder queens next year.

@ Julysun Will do, if all goes well I will start shipping sometime in May.

The PA site has some limited availability, I believe. That is the only one I have seen as a comment on the RA site. http://www.russellapiariespa.com/

That is my site. I do have a limited number of queens ready to ship in the next few weeks.

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Originally Posted by Beetrucker74

Robert has been proactive on getting the situation straightened out.

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There's that word again! I'm thinkin' that there are some posters here who believe that he hasn't even been postactive.

The man does bees well, he obviously did commercial sales well. He shares knowledge freely and well. He did not do retail sales and communications well. No, I did not get my order.

The horse is dead, beating on it more will not make it run any faster.

RA had a choice, slam the door on the little guy or completely change his business plan again. At the risk of a royal roasting, I support RA's attempt to keep his strains available.

Beetrucker74, keep your head low.

Very wise Saltybee.

I have yet to receive my 4 SKC they were supposed to ship the first week in june. They stopped responding to emails.....

Well, at least we're not the only ones RA wont respond to. Just got this email from the Mississippi BBB today:

This message is in regard to your complaint submitted on 7/13/2012 7:23:32 AM against Russell Apiaries. Your complaint was assigned ID 9....29.

The Bureau has decided to close this complaint and note that the business did not respond to the complaint.

This complaint will be reflected on the company's BBB Reliability Report with the following language: "The company failed to respond either to the consumer or the Bureau to the complaint(s) filed."Please feel free to contact us with any further questions.

Regards,



Linda Clopton
Director of Dispute Resolution

Terror strikes the heart of businesses when the BBB bares it's gums at them...