Robert Russell Apiaries - Update

Interesting and Google Maps lists it as "Russell Apiaries"

Here's the BBB listing with only 7 complaints and an F score. No duh! We should alllll probably follow up.

http://www.bbb.org/mississippi/Busin...n-ms-235821158

Who is BSH honey? Beyond Sweet Honey? I saw some of their equipment while in Brandon.

Your equipment is still on their premises.

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Originally Posted by MTINAZ

that photo bucket link is my dad and I loading up our few remaining hives and all of our unused equipment that we shipped out that the bees were suppoesed to be split into with "rob hughes" and some of his employees. A few of the pictures are my hives durning the summer I think.

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Has anyone met Doc?

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Originally Posted by ginnboy

I would second that on the sub producers.

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Originally Posted by camero7

And you know this how? A google search doesn't bring them up

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I didn’t use google.
But it only took a few minute online to determine this.
I expect one could get the same result by going old school and using a phone book

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Originally Posted by Barry

Have you meet both of these "individuals"?

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Nope, I haven't meet either of them.
Nor have I met you.

It doesn't take a face to face for a reasonable person to determine someone exists.

In this case, a phone directory search established that the local phone vendor provides landline service to Rob Hughes, Jr & Rob Hughes, Sr of Brandon, MS.
I did a phone directory search for the names.

That address is where I saw BSH equipment.

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Originally Posted by kincade

I'm still finding it hard to reconcile why my order was received and so many others were taken. RR's 'method' in this fiasco seems to have little rhyme or reason and I feel so sorry for those who were taken for much larger amounts of money than I had personally risked.

I can't seem to find my last post on this in the Russell thread, but to reiterate my experience I ordered a single queen last spring to replace a bad queen in a package I had received. Queen was delayed in the MS post office for 3 days in the heat and did not lay for 3 weeks. After an email to 'victoria' RR sent another queen at no charge overnight USPS. I started the first queen on a nuc who started laying shortly thereafter (banked queen or just the heat?) and both hives did fairly well over the summer seem to be still alive (although it is still too cold here to do a full inspection). Had I thought my money was at risk or any shady business was occurring I would have ordered elsewhere. I can't figure out why he would fulfill mine and send a replacement at his cost yet take so many other's money without so much as a response. It's sad and infuriating.

I just looked through some of my correspondence with 'Victoria' last spring and saw a message that might help some of you out. I had told her I appreciated them sending a replacement queen so quickly, and asked where I could send a thank you card.



In any case, I'm not sure if that address had been posted earlier but if not maybe it might help someone out. Good luck to you all who have lost their hard earned dollars. You have my sympathies and you've been nicer about it than I would have been.

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Originally Posted by kincade

I'm still finding it hard to reconcile why my order was received and so many others were taken. RR's 'method' in this fiasco seems to have little rhyme or reason and I feel so sorry for those who were taken for much larger amounts of money than I had personally risked.

I can't seem to find my last post on this in the Russell thread, but to reiterate my experience I ordered a single queen last spring to replace a bad queen in a package I had received. Queen was delayed in the MS post office for 3 days in the heat and did not lay for 3 weeks. After an email to 'victoria' RR sent another queen at no charge overnight USPS. I started the first queen on a nuc who started laying shortly thereafter (banked queen or just the heat?) and both hives did fairly well over the summer seem to be still alive (although it is still too cold here to do a full inspection). Had I thought my money was at risk or any shady business was occurring I would have ordered elsewhere. I can't figure out why he would fulfill mine and send a replacement at his cost yet take so many other's money without so much as a response. It's sad and infuriating.

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He also treated me very good in the past sending out queens and refunding some money on some. That is why I trusted him, I never had an issue. I all really is confusing. I know somewhere there is a post from joseph clemens (who I think most would agree is a decent guy) when he got some russell queens about how good they were and how well they did.

Sorry MTINAZ... just gonna add a little more info that people are speculating about
JN Russell had ONE race of bee he sold. He sold "Sunkist Italian" bees.. they were specifically bred and maintained the recessive cordovan color.... he often called them orange heads. Where the other 11 races of bees that are sold through RA came from... your guess is as good as any. JN Russell had an EXCELLENT Italian bee... and many people knew him and his bees.

There is a Robert Russell.... a REAL Rob Hughes Jr... a REAL Phillip Butts... a REAL Rob Hughes Sr..... Robert, Rob Hughes, and Phillip Butts are all in the same age group... went to school together.... hung out together... were tight, so to speak. WHO knew WHAT,WHEN and HOW I think will be determined in time. But if Robert was using Rob Hughes as an alias... is hard to believe that the REAL Rob Hughes did not know about it.

Someone told me that Hughes Sr. was a beekeeper over outside of Edwards MS on Hwy 22... Edwards, Learned, Raymond, Bolton, Vicksburg.. are all relatively near to each other. JN Russell lived in Bolton.. and THAT has always been Russell Apiaries until his death. Ricky now lives in his Dad's house.... I live outside Raymond... about 7 miles from JN Russell's place.

My personal opinion after talking to many people who know Robert ( as everyone here knows I have never seen or met Robert ), is that Robert did not SET OUT to defraud anyone.... however... when things did not go as well as planned and he came up short.... well.. the money was already in his pocket, and HIS needs outweighed YOUR needs. His exaggerated claims I think were just supposed to help him get more business.... and maybe make him feel bigger than life.... BUT, you can only sell what bees you can raise. So as he started getting behind.... someone had to pay.... that was the customers who got nothing. I don't think he ever raised any bees/queens seriously until after his Dad died, and with little experience it got the better of him. I know for a fact it is not an easy task to raise 100's of queens a week for a whole season consistently. I believe I could do it... because I was part of JN's team that did it.... and I watched and learned as I did it. I do not think I could READ about it here and be able to do it though.
I also believe he could have sold just as many bees if he just claimed to have a good bee and raised them consistently.... no need for smoke and mirrors. His Father never did it.... so why did HE need to do it?

Robert has truly dug himself into a serious hole.... maybe you can pity his wife and 3 kids if nothing else. I honestly hope he straightens it all out... cuz I KNOW he has some good stock if they are still living. As they say " What a tangled web we weave.... "
I know his father liked to brag a bit... that is normal in Queen breeders I think... but his father would NEVER have agreed to such blatant stretches of the truth.

Personally... don't ever lie to me... I do not care about your intentions or motives or anything else.... I will not lie to YOU, and I DEMAND that same respect from anyone I deal with. That is never negotiable.
I feel just a bit of shame from my whole association with the whole mess.... but we all have a mentor that got us interested in Bees... for ME that was JN Russell. I also recently remembered one of the bigger guys who bought queens from JN that I met before... anyone here know a "Hanson Honey" in Illinois or Indiana... ?? One of those "I" states somewhere in the middle.. :) HE can tell you about Russell Apiaries also.... the REAL Russell Apiaries.

Maybe my timing was bad when I started all of this.... but I did not CHOOSE when I got interested in bees again... I did not know all that was happening before I got back on this forum. You can ask Barry... I was last here in 2007.... had to get the moderators to reset my password since my email had changed in the last 5 years,,, because I wanted to keep my original login name.
My address and phone is open to the public.... I have not and will not hide from anyone.... and I will go a long way to try to build your trust in me if it is possible.

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Originally Posted by Beregondo

Nope, I haven't meet either of them.
Nor have I met you.

It doesn't take a face to face for a reasonable person to determine someone exists.

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It's already been shown by MTINAZ that the two are one and the same. I guess a face to face really is needed in this case.

Be glad when spring arrives and people start working bees and are to busy so this thread can disapear!

Based on an email I just got I think it's about to hit the fan....

Well,

Now I'm curious!

So there are no bees that fly at night on a full moon lol

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Originally Posted by SippyBees

My personal opinion after talking to many people who know Robert ( as everyone here knows I have never seen or met Robert ), is that Robert did not SET OUT to defraud anyone.... however... when things did not go as well as planned and he came up short.... well.. the money was already in his pocket, and HIS needs outweighed YOUR needs. His exaggerated claims I think were just supposed to help him get more business.... and maybe make him feel bigger than life.... BUT, you can only sell what bees you can raise. So as he started getting behind.... someone had to pay.... that was the customers who got nothing. I don't think he ever raised any bees/queens seriously until after his Dad died, and with little experience it got the better of him

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This is also my personal opinon.

Boy am I confused! We ordered 12 nucs last winter. After several emails and persistent badgering, we forced the issue and finally got the go-ahead to pick up our nucs. We drove to the Branden MS address. Rob met us at the apiary, which was a house with equipment scattered about. Rob was a young man (late 20's). About 5'11". He was polite and seemed knowledgeable. We drove out to several fields and picked out our nucs after going through some that had recently swarmed. He checked every nuc for a queen. Loaded up my truck and drove all night back home. We toured his shop where he grafted queens. Other than the house, it seemed legitimate. I am not defending anyone but this seems too surreal.

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Originally Posted by Arkansas Beekeeper

Boy am I confused! We ordered 12 nucs last winter. After several emails and persistent badgering, we forced the issue and finally got the go-ahead to pick up our nucs. We drove to the Branden MS address. Rob met us at the apiary, which was a house with equipment scattered about. Rob was a young man (late 20's). About 5'11". He was polite and seemed knowledgeable. We drove out to several fields and picked out our nucs after going through some that had recently swarmed. He checked every nuc for a queen. Loaded up my truck and drove all night back home. We toured his shop where he grafted queens. Other than the house, it seemed legitimate. I am not defending anyone but this seems too surreal.

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Rob was always helpful if there was a problem with a queen. One time they sent me a breeder as a replacement for a failed Tiger. I was more than refunded my money on misunderstandings in doing business with RA. I'm just sad it had to end this way. Robert get well soon.
Guy

Sippy, I think at one time I questioned your motives and I am sorry about that. My experience was that Russell was very helpful at first, and then hard to get ahold of, no deliverables - probably getting in over his head by then. I was dumb for prepaying like that. Live and learn unfortunately.

My two transactions with the nebraska and PA subs were great though. Quickly delivered and otherwise would get their bees again.

This whole scam is absolutely terrible. I am whole heartedly sorry that i even put myself in a position to be exploited, and worse off, see others get exploited as well. There are many people effected by this one mans actions. We all bought into what we thought was a stellar operation, a very knowledgable person, and great bee genetics. Instead, what we got were late or no existant queens and bees, and many headaches. There were those that defended RA, because of great customer service and good queens, and those that warned of problems with RA early on. Now i am left wondering why so many people couldnt see what was happening, myself included in that. I am ashamed that i didnt figure robert out sooner. I can only tell those effected that no one in the sub producers group was in on any scam, we were all suckered like everyone else. We were fed lie after lie and its now come down to this. One man created this huge mess, and many folks have lost something, mostly our hard earned money.

I will not buy from any of his guy's due to the fact of the mess that has been going on half of these guys are selling more of their own stock then russells. I wanted to buy a breeder caucasian queen from one of his guys and all this guy could tell me was he did not know when he would get any so that tells me not to bother. I got one of his queens and she did good but what if i wanted more can not rely on Russell and his group sad case there are others out there that has good queens and worth the cost but these guys make it bad for others. If anyone can get a breeder queen caucasian let me know i would then think on it i am looking.Now don't get me wrong maybe there is some that are doing what is right but times is hard and good people do not have money too waste and many want good queens this whole thing has been a night mare just plan sad.

Thomas