Survey of contamination rate of Paenibacillus larvae larvaeSpores(the causative agent of American foulbrood)In the produced honey in apiaries of Tehran province by culture and PCR

American foulbrood (AFB)، a severe bacterial disease of honeybee brood، caused by the sporeforming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae subspecies larvae. The agent، infect and kill larvae and produce billions of resistantspores to environmental factors. The spores are distributed in bee colonies and apiaries، thus bee products (honey…) are contaminated. For diagnosis، culture and chemical tests are very timeconsuming and expensive which occasionally give false result. In this study، 121 samples of honey were collected from apiaries in Tehranprovince. The samples wereselected by simple random method. Honey samples were diluted with an equal volume of distilled water and centrifuged، then the pellet used for DNA extraction. DNA was used for culture and PCR. PCR products were electrophoresed on 0. 8%agarose gel. The result showed that out of 121 honey samples which collected from beekeeping of Tehran province، 31 (25/6 %) samples were positive by culture andPCR. To control and preventive measures before the occurrence of any kind of damages، we can monitor orscreen of honey samples on regional and national scale by using culture and PCR method. According to the possibility of Honey contamination with the spores and its importance in global trade and a clear negative impact on exports، monitoring and detection of spores in honeys is very essential.