Honey bees play a vital role in sustaining agricultural productivity, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem stability through pollination services. In India, beekeeping has emerged as an important subsidiary occupation contributing to rural livelihoods, nutritional security, and agricultural development. Maharashtra possesses diverse agro-climatic regions ranging from the humid Konkan coast to the semi-arid Deccan plateau and forested areas of Vidarbha and the Western Ghats, making it highly suitable for apiculture. The state supports several honey bee species, including Apis dorsata, Apis cerana indica, Apis florea, Apis mellifera, and
various stingless bees. However, honey production and colony survival are adversely affected by numerous pests and predators. Wax moths, Varroa destructor, Tropilaelaps mites, ants, termites, small hive beetles, hornets, wasps, bee-eater birds, spiders, reptiles, and mammals collectively reduce colony strength, brood survival, and honey yield. The diversity and distribution of these pests vary across different ecological zones of Maharashtra due to climatic conditions, vegetation, management practices, and seasonal changes. Effective management requires integrated approaches combining cultural, mechanical, biological, botanical, and chemical
methods while minimizing adverse effects on bees and the environment. Although several studies have documented individual pests and predators, comprehensive reviews focusing on Maharashtra remain limited. This review synthesizes available literature published up to 2018 regarding the diversity, geographical distribution, biology, damage symptoms, and management of honey bee pests and predators in Maharashtra. It also identifies research gaps and proposes future directions for strengthening sustainable apiculture through integrated pest management, improved surveillance, and region-specific management strategies.

Tribal women constitute one of the most socio-economically disadvantaged sections of Indian society despite constitutional safeguards and numerous welfare programmes. Maharashtra has one of the largest Scheduled Tribe (ST) populations in India, with major tribal communities residing in districts such as Nandurbar, Gadchiroli, Palghar, Dhule, Nashik, Chandrapur and Amravati. Although tribal women play a significant role in agriculture, forest-based livelihoods, household management and the preservation of indigenous knowledge, they continue to experience poverty, illiteracy, poor health, limited access to productive resources and inadequate participation in formal employment. This paper examines the socio-economic status of tribal women in Maharashtra using secondary data available up to 2018. The study relies on Census of India (2011), National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015–16), National Sample Survey (2017–18), Ministry of Tribal Affairs reports, Government of Maharashtra publications and published research between 2013 and 2018. The analysis indicates that tribal women have lower literacy levels, higher dependence on agriculture and forest resources, limited access to quality healthcare, high levels of poverty and inadequate utilization of institutional credit and social security programmes.Nevertheless, government initiatives such as the Tribal Sub-Plan, Integrated Tribal Development Programme, Forest Rights Act and women-centred livelihood programmes have contributed to gradual improvements in education, maternal health and economic participation. From a social work perspective, strengthening community participation, gender sensitive interventions, livelihood promotion, educational empowerment and effective implementation of welfare schemes are essential for improving the quality of life of tribal women. The study concludes that sustainable tribal development requires an integrated approach combining social justice, inclusive governance and participatory development.

Women’s rights and empowerment are essential for achieving social equality and sustainable development in India. This systematic review of literature focuses on the literature about women's empowerment through analysis of the social, economic, educational and political issues that affect the advancement of women. The study adopts a systematic literature review, PRISMA guidelines-based approach, using an interpretivist and descriptive research design. Thematic analysis was used to analyse a total of 9 published studies up to 2018. The results revealed three broad themes of the multidimensional character of empowerment, the factors that favoured the
development of the women, and the existence of intractable obstacles that curtailed improvement. The review identifies that, despite the positive turn that has been made in women's participation and opportunities in India, structural inequalities still demand the focus of policies.