The Russian honey bee from the Primorsky Krai, a region in the southern extreme of the Russian Far East, belongs to the species Apis mellifera. The Russian honey bee have evolved traits of natural mite resistance due to heavy selection pressures. They have lived for more than 150 years in a region that is home to the varroa mite and the tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi). In 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics & Physiology Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana imported Russian bees to North America.