Surveillance of New Zealand apiaries for Paenibacillus alvei

Paenibacillus alvei is a facultative spore forming Gram positive bacterium. In relation to bees, P. alvei can invade honey bee larvae after European foulbrood occurs, although there is no evidence that P. alvei is pathogenic. In August 2008 P. alvei was isolated in New Zealand from a dead bumble bee (Bombus terrestris). Due to the association of P. alvei with bees and bee products, and the possibility the organism may be present in imported honey, a pilot surveillance programme for the presence or absence of P. alvei was carried out using samples collected as part of a larger surveillance programme on honey bee exotic disease. Of the 510 honey, hive floor and soil samples tested, two soil samples collected from the entrance of hives were shown to contain P. alvei based on macroscopic appearance, microscopic appearance, biochemical test results and sequencing results. In this study, three isolates of P. alvei were identified from three geographically disparate locations. These findings confirm that P. alve...