Russell Apiaries

[Beetrucker74]

WOW! Every time this thread pops up someone new has been ripped off.
I thought awhile back some of the RA fan club said it was only a couple of people.
It seems to be many many more than they claim
I have noticed the defenders pulling back a bit.
I doubt if many will ever receive what is owed to them
All we ever wanted were the magic bees we were promised

No most of us have better things to do. I should throw more gas on the fire. It is amusing to see some of the stuff in the thread. I have my opinion and others have theirs. But some of the stuff is funny you have to admit.

[theriverhawk]

This thread will stop when new "victims" stop...

Sadly, because RA continues to take orders, it appears that for 2012, it will not end...

[dragonfly]

Ladies and gentlemen, please keep the thread on-topic, and refrain from analyzing motives. Thanks.

[preciousbeesfarm]

I was a "beliver" in RA. I 1st ordered last year 3 Sunkist, out of 3 1 did fantastic, 2 were killed, I took responsibility for being an "unexperienced" Bee Keeper, (which I am not),. So I tried again this year, ordered in Feb for late April delivery. 10 Queens, 5 SK, 2 VSH, 3 Minn. Hyg. got them 2 June, after a couple of false starts,(Vic. E-mailed me claiming to have the order going out 2 weeks earlier). So, already 5 weeks behind schedule, I install the Queens, I just checked them yesterday, and found= 8 laying very poor shotgun brood, 1 superceded, and 1 laying very well ,after seeing the experiences of a lot of others, I am afraid that I may have spent over $300.00 for 1 good Queen. What is a delay of this kind worth? We need to be able to make plans with our local weather/ seasons in mind. I TRUSTED a vendor to stand behind their product even with questionable Custmer Service buying into the hype of being sooo busy in the yard to take care of us. Yet, I would time and again see others that did not take the time and forethought to plan a season, getting thier orders after a VERY short time! I sent e-mail this A.M. , but, I am worried . So far my experience is- 13 Queen bought in the last 2 seasons, with 2 being good, and 11 being duds. I feel that I gave the girls PLENTY of time to get on track as far as laying, as it is now these queens will not lay enough to ensure winter survival. As an example of what I was expecting; I installed a Virgin Queen that I raised from last year's SK Queen on 01 June, 09 June eggs were found, installed into 5 frame hive 12 June, filled 4 frames with eggs and brood by end of June , moved over to 10 frame box 03 July,,,, THAT is what I expect from a bug that is touted as the best in the country. Let's just say that my "faith" has been shaken to the core. If the Ra will respond to me I would be just as quick to post my positive feelings if a resolution is reached, not hopeful,,,,

After contacting Rob on RA web site a few weeks ago,, I got a notification that today replacement Queens are going to arrive this afternoon via UPS. I am very pleased that they would do this, and will be able to put to rest the negitive feeling that I have been experiencing. All bussiness ventures have issues that can and will arise. The bussinesses that learn and correct the issues with their customers will succeed. RA has done that for me, it has taken some time , but such is the nature of raising Queens, I am very happy with RA, and I do hope them the best, and will keep the option open for more orders in the future.

[Grant]

I can't say I've found anything malevolent in RA's dealings with me, but it's been a couple of years. I'd like to chalk it up to growing pains and adjusting to a very positive product in high demand. Sometimes the drama and hyperbole needs to be taken down a notch. Nobody's perfect, but good communication can sure salve, and solve a lot of problems.

I am amazed the number of people who don't read the consumer reports section prior to ordering, even if they fail to search the archives and merely start a new thread with, "Anyone have any experience with XYZ?" With information at their finger tips and mouse clicks, why are there so many new "victims?"

Grant
Jackson, MO

[Vance G]

Still no sign of my 15 MAY queens! Those poor folks at Russells must be worried to death about it.

[swarm_trapper]

rest easy Vance no one over there will miss any sleep. lol

[rookie beekeeper john]

I've been holding my breath since may 20th. can't hold it any longer. lol

[Apple Farmer]

With the season getting so shot I gave up on the Moonbeams I had ordered and sent a message to Rob telling him I would take Danish in their place. Two days later I had an email from Victoria that 5 Danish were shipped and a SKC would be shipped later if I still wanted it.

Queens arrived the next day. Danged UPS driver would have left them on the porch in the hot sun if the wife hadn't spotted him walking away! Package lable states very clearly do not leave in the sun!

[sqkcrk]

You have to be proactive. Let your UPS Depot know you want them to hold them so you can pick them up at the Depot. You should not expect a driver, w/ all they have to keep track of, to read anything.

[VolunteerK9]

With the season getting so shot I gave up on the Moonbeams I had ordered and sent a message to Rob telling him I would take Danish in their place. Two days later I had an email from Victoria that 5 Danish were shipped and a SKC would be shipped later if I still wanted it.

Queens arrived the next day. Danged UPS driver would have left them on the porch in the hot sun if the wife hadn't spotted him walking away! Package lable states very clearly do not leave in the sun!

Glad you at least got something..many of us are still waiting..for a refund at this point though.

[Vance G]

xx

[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.

[Brandy]

Interesting Preciousbeesfarm, I got my queens June 1 and out of the 6, 3 Sunkist, 3 Moonbeams, only got 1 drone layer out of the group. Obviously it wasn't a very good batch or they were pulled and held over the Memorial day weekend, or the little guys, us, got the duds. Only RA knows about that. But pretty interesting that a couple of us indeed didn't get quite the quality that we were looking for. At least you got some replacements, I got the cold shoulder as others have.

[Oldtimer]

Ha Ha! Proactive in eliminating Buzz Words. Very funny Vance, a great oxymoron.

[beemandan]

I’m not too fond of the word proactive either. I worked for a fellow who, whenever things didn’t go exactly right would tell everyone that they needed to be more proactive. I remember that we had a load of equipment shipped, the shipping company lost it for a week and when it finally arrived much of the stuff was damaged. The old fool still insisted that we could have headed it off if we’d been more proactive. That was over a decade ago….and the word still pi…..annoys me.

[Saltybee]

Those with long term relationships with RA tend to be supporters, I did not worry about intent to make right, I did worry about ability to make it right.

When RA is able to make something right, I take it as a positive sign. I am glad to read those posts.
Enough has been said to warn anybody of the troubles. A good post should not be a call to go negative.

[Nichols747]

Dare I ask if anyone has an email or phone number for RA? I've had no contact since sending them my money, and want to try to arrange delivery for next year, instead of this one, and their website appears to be down...

[Shazam]

Brandy,

You're confirming what I thought. I also got bees that arrived on June 1. They were supposed to arrive (guaranteed by USPS in fact) on the 31st, but they sat an extra day in the Jackson MI USPS facility according to their tracker. That shipment was pretty much all rejected, except 1 non layer. There was another person or two who got bees early june (I presume also June 1) with that problem. I suspect that whole batch was damaged from sitting in heat. Enough to harm the queens without killing them, as prior and following RA queens didn't have that problem. Also you might try and contact them further. They made good on replacing my queens at their cost.

[Saltybee]

Nichols 747,
Rob Hughs there is keeping a list of orders moved to next year. When the site is up, it will be again, if you take his name on a posting it will bring up the RA e-mail link. Also through contact us above I believe.