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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"
 
#3 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

When I was falling out of the true believer fold and still frequenting his web site, I remember him offering people his fathers unused honey production yards where huge yields were the norm and his people would take care of them for you! I am sure they never got overpopulated.
 
#4 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

When I was falling out of the true believer fold and still frequenting his web site, I remember him offering people his fathers unused honey production yards where huge yields were the norm and his people would take care of them for you! I am sure they never got overpopulated.
I think I was one of the few dumb enough to fall for this scam. There was only 10-12 hives of other peoples that were therer when I went to pick up what was left of my hives. If there was any huge honey crop it walked off with my hives.
 
#5 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Hey Mtinaz, sorry to hear about all that. Be sure to keep us posted on any more details you find out since you're one of the few that have actually been on the scene. The rest of us only have had our $$ taken and thought RA were crooks. Now you can verify that!

Might be interesting to have some more chats with Paypal, since that was one of the many ways that RA was able to hide and not return the funds. Good luck, getting anything back from them.
 
#10 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Hey Mtinaz, sorry to hear about all that. Be sure to keep us posted on any more details you find out since you're one of the few that have actually been on the scene. The rest of us only have had our $$ taken and thought RA were crooks. Now you can verify that!

Might be interesting to have some more chats with Paypal, since that was one of the many ways that RA was able to hide and not return the funds. Good luck, getting anything back from them.
If you paid for something via pay pal and the seller didn't send it to your confirmed address(or sent it at all) and has proof via a tracking or delivery confirmation number Pay pal has to refund your money. I had a friend sell a boat on ebay, buyer paid with Pay pal then a month later(after picking the boat up) called pay pal and cancelled the payment. My friend was told since he didn't send it to the confirmed address listed with pay pal it's as though the buyer never received it and was given a refund. He had to get a lawyer involved and eventually got his money but it was a big harry mess. Google "paypal seller protection" Pay pal is very buyer friendly!
 
#8 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Anyone that ordered queens from Russell Apiaries NY can contact me and I WILL refund any moneys paid. I feel terrible that any of this has happened. I am truely sorry, and I can say that I had NO idea of any of this when I associated my bee farm with RA. Anyone with orders for queens from Russell Apiaries NY will be receiving a full refund if they so choose.
 
#13 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Anyone that ordered queens from Russell Apiaries NY can contact me and I WILL refund any moneys paid. I feel terrible that any of this has happened. I am truely sorry, and I can say that I had NO idea of any of this when I associated my bee farm with RA. Anyone with orders for queens from Russell Apiaries NY will be receiving a full refund if they so choose.
So why are you not un-associated? Just curious if there is some reason the sub-producers cant get the name off their bee farms.
 
#42 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

So why are you not un-associated? Just curious if there is some reason the sub-producers cant get the name off their bee farms.
Motj3-
What I mean is my name. I tied my name to that of Russell Apiaries in a plan to be able to offer the genetic stock of Russell Apiaries to the general public, after they stopped taking orders from the public. I had numerous orders last year that I did deliver queens to. I have never taken an order that I was unable to fill. If I couldnt get the number of queens or cells by a certain date, I contacted the buyer and worked with them to either produce them or not, and I certainly didnt take anyones money without delivering product.
I was unaware of any wrong doings by Robert/Rob, other than some folks who were waiting for queens that were late, when I decided to become a Sub producer for RA. I did not know any of the information that was brought to light in this thread, until MTINAZ spoke up. I can assure everyone that there was not any knowledge by any of the "sub producers" of any of the accusations made in this thread. I would say that the subs are honest, hardworking folks that may have gotten caught up in a mess that was not of their making, nor their desire.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Tiny Barn Farm, believe me, I've tried everything with paypal. Once the 120 days or whatever is over, it doesn't matter what, who, how. They, Discover can't open up a dispute because of the time frame. Also, they'll say,(RA,) they can't give a refund since you got the dead queens, or missing in action queens, or drone laying queens. So, you can't have the product, dead queens, and a refund too. They required that you send back the drone laying queen etc.... If you paid paypal a year in advance for a piece of the "Moonbeam" lemonade, touche, goodbye, really no luck with paypal at allll!!

Now, I did have a written response from Rob Hughes saying indeed they owed me queens and shippping. But I know you can guess by now, nothing happened. No response, no credit, no transfer, no nothing..... So, if they ever do catch up with this outfit I hope there's some stout dudes handy.....
 
#14 · (Edited)
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Last year after hearing the claims of 10's of thousands of queens shipped I posed the question on here asking where are all these customers at and if he is truly selling queens at this volume then why on earth wouldnt he just settle up all these small grievances if for no other reason to save the pr nightmare. I have a lot of connections with commercials and nobody I knew had even heard of Robert Russell, finally one person on the board spoke up and said that he had, in fact, purchased hundreds of queens and had personally witnessed the California operation where thousands were being shipped weekly. Who was this person? He went by the name of beehugheshoney I believe. Any attempts I made to subtly point this and all of the convenient excuses out to the board always opened you up to attacks. When MTINAZ came forward with his situation recently the pieces all just seemed to fit. Its truly a sad and unfortunate situation all the way around. This kind of thing happens, at times, to all of us as we go through life. Hence my signature line.
 
#16 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Yes Brandy, I apologize and I would have to do a lot of digging to find the old posting to confirm this. In any case it was someone by the name of Hughes that was the only person that came forward with information about large numbers of queens being shipped. I edited my post accordingly.
 
#17 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

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.
 
#84 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Your equipment is still on their premises.
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.
 
#18 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I "think" looking back at some of the posts, that beehugheshoney is Rob Hughes supposedly father. But who knows.... corrupted story line in my mind!!

P.S. Someone posted on RA's site about Russell being a fraud and they took the post down. Interesting, but you could see that coming.
 
#19 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Yes, he said his son worked for Russell's and that he (beehugheshoney) had personally seen the operation in California which claimed to ship 5,000 queens per week.
 
#29 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

MTINAZ.. I do understand how you feel and can't really blame you for that. Ricky does have a past yes... and I am not best friends with him or anyone over there... I am not "in business" with him as others have suggested... I just have 100% confidence that he would not rip you off.... he has too much to lose for such as that. I worked with his Daddy... never really knew Ricky until I was out of the bees. I don't need to defend Ricky... and you can think whatever you want about anyone. I was TRYING to help people get a grasp of why they lost their money... I THOUGHT I was helping... but I have been accused of pretty much lying/trying to smear RA to help myself/ and more since I started my own thread.
It was not easy for me to say what I did considering much of the condemnation that came down on me.... but still everything I said was the truth. I felt after talking with you that maybe you even thought I was involved in some way.... I can assure you I am NOT involved with RA in any way... nor did I have any first hand information about your loss. I am an honest guy and I do not need to try to defend myself in an internet forum. Had I said all I said a year ago.... you would not have believed it then either. It JUST so happened that I got back into bees recently.... so recently is when I posted what I knew. I did not PLAN my posts.... I did not set out to defame anyone.... am not trying to hurt anyone.... but as I have stated many times now... I absolutely hate a liar.
I am truly sorry for your losses.... and I hope that you will not always feel the same about people from Mississippi. If I DID know anything that would bring the criminals to justice... or that would get your property back... you can be SURE I would be the first one in line to scream to the police. I wish you luck...
 
#30 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I was TRYING to help people get a grasp of why they lost their money... I THOUGHT I was helping... but I have been accused of pretty much lying/trying to smear RA to help myself/ and more since I started my own thread.
It was not easy for me to say what I did considering much of the condemnation that came down on me.... but still everything I said was the truth. I felt after talking with you that maybe you even thought I was involved in some way.... I can assure you I am NOT involved with RA in any way.. I am an honest guy and I do not need to try to defend myself in an internet forum. Had I said all I said a year ago.... you would not have believed it then either.I am truly sorry for your losses..
I understand what you are saying and you have taken a beating, but you have to admit when you talked to me right afterword and basicly wanted my business it raised huge red flags.
 
#31 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

AHHH... I would use a PM, but since you say it aloud here... I must say... I was only trying to help you Sir. I currently have 11 hives... a FAR FAR cry from a business. IF I ever DO raise bees as a business, it will NOT be in the near future. Ricky has sent several... don't know how many... but several queens FREE to people that got ripped off by Robert... just to try to keep his Dad's good name. I offered to try to help you replace what you had lost... as best as I could...just to try to help you out of a loss, but I am NOT in competition with RA's. I am truly sorry for what you may have thought of me after we talked on the phone. I have already spoken to the sheriff's department and told them whatever I knew... which wasn't much... and I know for a FACT that I am in NO WAY connected to your loss. I did not say all I said in order to help MYSELF in ANY WAY... regardless what you or anyone else may think.
Again... sorry for your loss
 
#34 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Here is something confusing. I got this reply #9 from a poster named Joseph Clemens re: my post Optimal # of hives or outyards for queen rearing: and at the end of the post he links his website. When I clicked on it it went here. Is this the same guy?
http://russellapiariesaz.webs.com/
 
#36 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

Here is something confusing. I got this reply #9 from a poster named Joseph Clemens re: my post Optimal # of hives or outyards for queen rearing: and at the end of the post he links his website. When I clicked on it it went here. Is this the same guy?
http://russellapiariesaz.webs.com/
No joseph clemens lives in Tucson. I have met him and his wife. Not sure what part he has in all this.
 
#38 ·
Re: Robert Russell is a fraud

I have had a few PM's so wanted to clear something up. If you ever emailed, met, spoke to Rob Hughes you were talking with Robert Russell. As far as the sub producers go I am willing to bet a few were scammed like I was and if you personally know them and there bees then buying from them is up to you. From the one time I met Joseph he seemed like a good guy and I highly doubt he ever met Robert.
 
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