In 1994, the USDA imported a species of bees from Russia. What made these Honey Bees unique, was that they had been pre exposed to Vorroa Mites for more than a century and had developed immunities never before seen in commercial beekeeping. In 2007 the USDA began distributing this new breed across portions of the united states including California and Florida.
Fast forward to 2018 Bobby Hopkins purchased four colonies from a representative of the R.H.B.A (Russian Honey Bee Association) and the rest is history.  After only a few months the extreme health and vitality, these bees began to stand out amongst the constant negative headlines regarding Honey Bee decline. As a direct result Bobby began to "split" or expand his hives to "spread the wealth" to curious friends and family members. The success and feedback Bobby experienced from this led to the creation of East Coast Bees.