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Robert Russell Apiaries - Update

204K views 407 replies 96 participants last post by  AstroBee 
#1 ·
I wanted to let everyone know some of the information that I discovered while trying to figure out who stole my hives. Robert Russell is running a big scam. He was going by the name Rob hughes on the phone and in person saying that rob hughes was Roberts employee and crew chief. He is very good at this and always referred to Robert as "Doc" in the third person. He even sent me PM's stating Rob was in Florida running their bees there and he was all over the country tending bees. I discovered this after the sheriffs office showed me a mug shot of Robert Russell and it was the same person I had been working with calling him self rob hughes. I personally do not believe he has more than a few hive and does not have all these different strains. Any strains he does have must of came from his fathers operation. The sheriff's office also told us he was charged in Philadelphia MS with taking someones money for bees and never delivering them. I believe most of the people working for him and running his "Russell apiaries family" sites also know all this. I would recommend anyone with orders with anyone associated with Robert Russell cancel them. The man is a dishonest crook. I speculate but have no proof that he was taking my bees all year long and selling them as nucs with phillip butts, one of his "employees"
 
#280 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I'm not trying to get off topic, but I just read Barry's last post and I had to add this. I'm pretty sure I've said this here or another Russell thread but I ordered 5 nucs last year and was one of the few that actually got them and yeah I met the elusive Robert Russell incognito. When I got the bees back to Tennessee and inspected them well here's what I noticed, frames of all different kinds( plastic, wood some old some newer) and an enormous amount of small hive beetles and mites. I have shb here but I deal with them or I should say the bees deal with them, but there's a point when they overtake bees and those nucs where very close to that point from the start. I personally believe that I brought more trouble to my apiary than I would imagined. All 5 nucs are dead and I had them in an isolated yard with 4 more strong colonies. All the hives I had at this yard are dead maybe they would have died anyway I don't know for sure but after inspecting the dead outs here's what I found tons of dead shb dead mites all over the slatted racks and frames and leftover food. So I don't think they starved. My point being in all this rambling I'm with Barry here I'm not sure you actually want those bees, and if you do get them I would get a local inspector or your state apiary inspector to look them over. Just my 2 cents and they are free here.
Major
 
#282 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Absolutely

I have concerns. I even have a history with RA. The two nukes I took delivery of in 2011 failed in 2012. As a brand new beek there is no way I was an authority and could prove that they were bad bees. Now I believe they were bad bees, everyone I spoke to the last couple of months says I did everything right caring for the bees, my mentor recently said "you got bad bees". As a matter of fact one nuc was full of honey with very little brood. I saw a very skinny "hipless" queen so I doubt she was even mated, much the less laying when I took delivery. I know that now, I've learned a lot in 24 months.

I ordered a replacement nuc in April, never delivered, right after the first nuc failed in March. The second hive failed by July. I ordered from RA because they had nucs available and I knew no better, did not have the sources and contacts I now have.

With everything that has happened recently I do not really expect to get bees, much less good bees. I just know that at this point even a good ole boy attorney that graduated last in his law school class could rip my claim apart. April 15 I will be in a much different position. If I receive the nuc I can have it inspected by experts that may or may not be able to tell me they are Sunkist bees. How does someone not considered an expert offer an opinion about the lineage of a queen? I have a very small dog in this fight so I have to handle this a bit differently then those of you with more experience and more invested in this fraud.

I have ordered a couple of nucs of Russians from the local club so I'll have the opportunity to kill some Russians in April.
 
#283 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

<snip> I just know that at this point even a good ole boy attorney that graduated last in his law school class could rip my claim apart.
Al, I think you have as good of a chance at recouping your losses as anyone else has...whether you wait or not. Probably be better if you don't wait. I kind of doubt that RRussell has the available cash to refund those he owes nor the bees to pay them with. The hope has to be that he has some real property that can be liquidated and disbursed to the people he owes. To receive some of that money you would have to be found to be a victim of his or to be on the winning side of a civil lawsuit. It's one of those "you must be present to win" scenarios, I would think...you gotta have your name in the hat.

I have ordered a couple of nucs of Russians from the local club so I'll have the opportunity to kill some Russians in April.
You know that Henry Kissinger worked hard to keep exactly that from happening. :D

Ed
 
#287 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

in the long run one of the sadist parts of this mess is that the lifetime work of RR''s father namely the sunkist line may be lost. i sure hope that the sub-breeders, who are now runing for cover do not throw away the old russel legacy and genetics... this whole thing really is a mess for everyone in the industry and an insult to show for a lifetime of hard work..... greed is filthy sin
 
#289 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

in the long run one of the sadist parts of this mess is that the lifetime work of RR''s father namely the sunkist line may be lost. i sure hope that the sub-breeders, who are now runing for cover do not throw away the old russel legacy and genetics... this whole thing really is a mess for everyone in the industry and an insult to show for a lifetime of hard work..... greed is filthy sin
I can believe that RRussell had a sadist streak in him.... :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I agree with you on the greed part, matheson...probably caused as much human suffering as any one thing could.

Ed
 
#295 ·
#293 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I'm not sure how recently this was put up on the RA website, but it would have raised some red flags for me:

The main operation of Russell Apiaries will not be taking in any new orders for production queens from public buyers so that we may return our focus to our supplying our commercial customers and our research and developement. However, we have established satalite operations across the country. These operations are specifically dedicated to provide the public with Russell Apiaries genetics produced under the same scrutiny and quality standards that have been the benchmark for Russell Apiaries. Maticulous planning and direction has gone into developing these operations in strategic locations to implement a Local Adaptation Program that will continue to produce acclimated genetics for each region that they serve. This allows the customers to not only have a Local supplier to communicate with directly, but also provides them with genetics that are specifically adapted for their own climates, improving survival, production, and the ability to overcome the threats of pests and diseases that have threatened honey bees and beekeeping more and more over the past several decades.
Developement? Satalite? Maticulous? Not that spelling is a prerequisite for being a good beekeeper, but I tend not to send money to companies that fail to proofread their online presence.
 
#296 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

This is starting to make sense to me now. JN Russell established a good name, so was able to make good money selling queens. Robert inherited the business and wanted to keep making money from the Russell name, but he lacked the experience/commitment/desire to manage a top-notch queen-rearing program.

The scheme could even have worked for him (for a while at least) if he had refrained from taking people's money without delivering. The sub program allowed him to basically sell the Russell name only, providing a few breeder queens and taking a commission while the subproducers did all the work. Of course, for this to work, Robert Russell needs to be known as an expert queen breeder. Thus the need for the alias. "Rob Hughes" is the lowly manager, the person encountered when folks visit the Russell farm to pick up queens and nucs. The ever busy Dr. Russell is always away in California or on offshore islands working on queen selection and research. Dr. Russell needs to have some public presence of course, so a forum alias is created using plagiarized text in academic discussions, showing to the beekeeping world that this Russell really knows his salt.
 
#298 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Well... I personally dont know where the EXACT queens JN was breeding from last are.... but I DO know where to get his "stock"..... LEGITIMATELY..... but I SURE AS HECK WON'T MENTION IT HERE.... :) But honestly... if all of this is dealt with soon... I do believe there are some sunkist queens still to be had if you like a very prolific Italian bee.
PLEASE do not crucify me for saying it here.... but research my posts and you will never have seen me say Robert had bad bees to begin with.
 
#308 ·
#304 · (Edited by Moderator)
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Haha... Google is GREAT!! I found a link that Robert lists as " Russian scientist with translator".... INCREDIBLE... Thats my ex-wife that grafted for JN, and a visiting Ukranian beekeeper that cam over here on a government funded exchange type program through Jackson state university.... he was the dude that convinced me to try bee stings for my arthritis.... hehehe. He was just a small beek in Ukraine that DID migrate with the weather there.... all his bees on a trailer moved from area to area....Everyone take a look.. :)
 
#305 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

World renowned bee breeder and PHD? Thats even funnier than calling Barry's site one of the most censored on the planet.:lpf:
 
#309 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Im so embarrassed that he pulled the wool over my eyes. Im usually pretty good about spotting a scammer, but RR got me on this one. Fell for it hook line and sinker. Anyone want 2 of russells famous treatment free mite resistant carniolan queens? Id love to know where they actually came from or what their lineage is. Sigh.
 
#311 ·
#313 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Joel gave good advice here:
Are you referring to this Barry?!


Could someone closer to Mark (sqkcrk) than me please drop an ex-lax in his coco and send me the after pictures!
Gettin’ a bit kinky for my blood.:)
 
#316 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I don't but I did buy a couple of queens off of him last year and I did receive what I asked for when I couldn't get any communication from Russell's. Got what I paid for from Russell also. Guess I got real lucky on that. Sad situation this has came to is all I can say.
 
#319 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

If anyone paid him money and did not receive there items I highly recommend that you call the Rankin county sheriffs office. Robert Russell is in custody but on a warrant in a different county, for what appears to be taking someones $ and not giving them queens. I think this is the felony false pretense the link to the court docket was about. It sounds like Rankin county may also be wiling to file similar charges.
 
#321 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I am still trying to understand whether or not PDG Honey was involved or not? Do any of you know or at least have opinions?
He has to be in this up to his ears. When I questioned him on the RA forum about his nuc sales he denied he ever sold any. Was quite defensive and has now disappeared. If I were missing hives I'd be looking at him too. It's a den of thieves there as far as I can tell. Hard to separate the actors from the players.
 
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