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Prey predator interaction was investigated between native bees of Meghalaya, the Apis cerana himalaya and predatory wasp. The study was aimed to know the capability of native bees against the predatory wasps and the mechanism involved under natural condition. The study analyzed the response of honey bees and wasp towards each other. Attack of wasp significantly reduced the number of foragers during peak dearth period. The main defensive behaviour exhibited by honey bees was balling reaction. Number of dead wasp was more when intensity of attack increased, as honey bees killed maximum of 13 wasps by losing only 0.67 bees during 3rd week of August. The thermal lethal limit of both prey and predator was different which reflects the safety factor in heat ball reaction for honey bees. The overall results showed that the native bee has well organized defense system against the predatory wasp.

This study assessed whether the slash-burn practice (jhum) induced disturbance on the above-ground biological inputs (plant biomass and forest floor litters, FFLs) had any influence on the soil processes in terms of soil enzyme activities. The jhum cycles of 5, 10 and 15 years from Mizoram and 5, 10 and 20 years from Nagaland were considered. Litter (adjacent fallow phase/secondary forest) and soil samples (burnt and unburnt cropping phases) were collected from three slopes (summit, shoulder and backslope) from each site and were analyzed for soil physicochemical and biochemical properties. Accumulation of FFLs increased significantly with the increasing length of fallow phase and accumulation dynamics showed an increasing trend in the order January > April > August > November. Values of bulk density (BD), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), avail-P and avail-K in soils under burnt sites were found higher relative to their values in unburnt sites and the reverse trend was true in case of soil organic carbon (SOC) and avail-N. Except BD, values of these soil properties were significantly higher in the longer fallow phase compared to that in shorter fallow phase (P