Re: Robert Russell is a fraud
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.