Italian Colonies Research Articles

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are more efficient at removing worker brood artificially infested with the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans than are Italian bees or Italian/Africanized hybrids

Africanized honey bees are more tolerant of infestations with the mite Varroa jacobsoni than are honey bees of European origin. The capacity of these bees to detect and react to brood infested with this mite could be one of the factors determining this tolerance. We tested colonies of Africanized bees headed by queens from swarms collected in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State. The Italian colonies had queens imported directly from the USA, or from the Brazilian Island of Fernando de Noronha, where varroa-infested Italian colonies have been maintained, untreated, since 1984. Recently sealed worker brood cells were artificially infested by opening the cell capping, inserting live adult female mites and resealing the cells. Control cells were treated in the same way, but without introducing mites. The ability of the Africanized honey bees to recognize and remove this artificially infested brood was compared with that of first generation Italian/Africanized hybrid bees, and with the two groups of "pure" Italian bees, in three separate experiments. Africanized colonies removed a mean of 51% of the infested brood, while Italian/Africanized hybrid colonies removed 25%. Africanized colonies also removed a significantly greater proportion of infested brood than did Italian colonies, headed by queens from the USA (59 vs. 31%, respectively). Similarly, when Africanized colonies were compared with colonies of Italian bees from Fernando de Noronha, the former were found to be significantly more efficient at removing infested brood (61 vs. 35%, respectively), even though the population of Italian bees on this island has been exposed to and survived varroa infestations (without treatment) for more than 12 years. Only the Africanized honey bees removed a significant proportion of varroa-infested brood, when the data was corrected for brood removal from control cells.

Reproduction of a Newly-Established Population of the Great Cormorant in Northeastern Italy

-A study of the breeding biology of the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) was carried out during 1993-1998 in the Po River Delta, a major wintering area in northeastern Italy. The first of five colonies was founded in 1993, and breeders increased from 69 pairs in 1994 to 285 pairs in 1998. The period of egg-laying lasted from early March to late July, but 65% of all clutches were initiated between late March and the end of April. The average clutch size (? SD) was 3.83 ? 0.65 eggs (range two to six). The survival rate of entire nests, evaluated by the Mayfield method, was always higher during the nestling stage than during incubation. The majority of losses occurred during the egg stage due to predation by Hooded Crows (Corvus corone cornix). During the five years, hatching success was 72-91% and total nest success, 67-86%. The number of young fledged per successful nest ranged between 2.3 and 2.9. The reproductive parameters of Great Cormorants recorded in the Po Delta lay at the upper range reported for NW Europe populations and are close to the estimated values for newly-established colonies in Italy and for growing colonies in the traditional breeding areas. Unlike other Italian colonies, the availability of breeding sites and food presently do not limit expansion of the breeding population in the Po Delta. If no control measures are undertaken, it is likely that this southern population will continue to grow. Received 10 April 1998, accepted 26July 1998.

Italian schools in Egypt

This paper analyses the relevance of the Italian schools in Egypt from 1922 to 1940. The Italian fascist regime made a concerted effort to improve the quality of its schools abroad in order to enrol the greatest number of children from the families of the large Italian colony. Their aim was to improve their chances of finding a job in Egypt after leaving school and to indoctrinate them with the fascist ideology. This effort failed because of the changes brought about by the abolition of Capitulations in Egypt (1937), and because the Italian anti‐Semitic laws (1938) led the Italian Jews of Egypt to send their children to French and British schools. In 1940, with Italy's entry into World War II, all the Italian schools in Egypt were closed by the Egyptian authorities.

Come back Somalia? Questioning a collapsed state

Somalia has come to be seen as a prime example of a 'collapsed state'. Together with Liberia, it is a byword for anarchy; 'becoming another Somalia' is the fate to be avoided by every African state. And yet this is what was previously hailed as the most 'unified' state in Africa, free from the ethnic divisions that plague nearly all the others, with a single culture, language and religion. Somalia reminds us to distinguish between the underlying causes of state collapse, and the fault lines along which the collapse occurs. These do not need to be regional, linguistic, religious or 'ethnic'. In Somalia, rivalries between descent groups (clans) served the same purpose. In this paper I shall consider the process of disintegration, and ask what the prospects for reconstruction are.' Though the same general considerations apply to all the Somali territory, I deal only with southern Somalia (the once Italian colony) and have not attempted to look at 'Somaliland', the self-declared republic in the Northwest.

Eritrean independence and the collapse of Ethiopian centralism: Causes, consequences, and implications

Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1993 marked the first successful case of territorial separatism in post‐colonial Africa, and thus provides an important precedent for the rest of the continent. It is, however, a very distinctive case: the victorious separatist movement, the EPLF, denied that Eritrea was ‘seceding’ from Ethiopia at all, and established its claim to independence on the basis of Eritrea's former status as an Italian colony. Eritrea thus resembled other post‐colonial African states, and the new government promoted ‘nation‐building’ policies very similar to theirs. It differed from them largely in the legacy of a long and intense liberation war, in the conflictual nature of its regional environment, and in the changed international setting that resulted from the end of the Cold War. The truncated Ethiopian state from which Eritrea had separated, on the other hand, introduced a drastically changed political structure which sought to represent, rather than to suppress, the different ethni...

Re-establishing Italo-Ethiopian Relations after the War: Old Prejudices and New Policies

Re-establishing Italo-Ethiopian Relations after the War: Old Prejudices and New Policies Giampaolo Calchi Novati After World War II, the 1947 Peace Treaty with Italy recognized the independence and sovereignty of Ethiopia.1 Although Italy may have had reservations about an act which was imposed upon her, no reservations could exist regarding the legal status of the Abyssinian Empire. The manner in which Italian occupation ended—Haile Sellassie was reinstated as monarch in 1941 by the British—showed that Ethiopia had not been an Italian colony in the true sense. If anything, Ethiopia had to deal with Great Britain to whom it owed its "liberation" and whose troops continued to be stationed on its territory.2 Ethiopia and Italy re-established diplomatic relations only after lengthy negotiations. The laboriousness of normalization is explained partly by the fate of Italian colonies in Africa,3 but also by psychological misunderstanding which had built up between the two countries.4 Italy was anxious to accelerate procedures so she could reassert her influence in the new African and international set-up, but did not want to give the impression she was ready to make economic or political concessions in return. As for Ethiopia, in viewing its relationship with Italy, the Addis Ababa government believed that colonialism had come to an end and demanded therefore that the period be formally closed. In the course of Italo-Ethiopian relations, expertise and skills had been developed that would be useful in furthering and strengthening relations and trade between the two countries. Italy could be a valuable partner, Ethiopia thought, in helping it escape the British yoke to which it had been subjected during the war. Agreement and difference hinged on the question of the former Italian colonies. As part of its African policy, the Italian government certainly envisaged regaining influence in Ethiopia. Northeast African Studies (ISSN 0740-9133) Vol. 3, No. 1 (New Series) 1996, pp. 27-4927 28 Giampaolo Calchi Novati This would mean reacquiring, at least to a certain extent, some prerogatives enjoyed during the colonial period, even though, in the case of Ethiopia, no direct claims were made. The fact that Italy entertained such colonial or paracolonial aspirations inevitably aroused the suspicions ofthe Ethiopians. They remembered Italian aggression which had included substantial requests for Somalia and especially for Eritrea. Italy took for granted that Europe and Africa would be interdependent in the economic and security spheres, but was also convinced that Europe had to support potentially nationalistic changes in Africa if she wanted to maintain control over the continent. At the same time Italy refused—in the name of those very interests—to "erase the Italian and European character" which had been stamped into her ex-colonies "during many decades of fruitful labour."5 In these circumstances it is not surprising that Italo-Ethiopian talks did not get off the ground until the United Nations had made decisions regarding the former Italian possessions. In the meantime, the Ethiopian government resisted any direct or indirect contacts with Italy.6 Attempts at dialogue were initiated through diplomatic legations in Cairo, Washington, and London,7 as well as through John D. Spencer, the American legal advisor to the Ethiopian government, and through the Ethiopian envoy in London.8 The whole matter was postponed until the signing of a Peace Treaty, then to its ratification, and finally, to the outcome of the debate on Italian colonies. Ethiopian reservations were justified. Italy did not want to give up Eritrea, her favorite colony, and made no attempt to conceal her displeasure when the territory was federated with Ethiopia. Italian policy regarding Eritrea—in agreement or not with Great Britain—had oscillated between a request for mandate and independence, with Italy always placing her own interests before the national rights of the Eritreans.9 The Ethiopian authorities openly reproached Italy for demonstrating continuing hostility. As for Somalia, Italy knew that its return there would evoke "memories of the painful past in the minds of the Ethiopian government."10 Ethiopia objected to Somalia's being placed under Rome's trusteeship as it meant that Italy was once more a "neighbour." Such proximity would probably spark renewed discord over borders. In fact...

Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria

This volume brings together papers by Crusades' experts from England, France, Canada and the United States discussing the confrontation between the Franks and Muslims in 12th-century Syria, balancing the traditional European view with an Islamic perspective. Each author's individual contribution lies in the new ideas and insights to a particular topic such as new interpretations in Crusades studies, Latin jurists in the Levant, the Italian colonies, propagation of violence and propaganda, role of individual popes, the impact on islamic society as reflected in literature, religious propaganda, and diplomatic relations.

Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria

This volume brings together papers by Crusades' experts from England, France, Canada and the United States discussing the confrontation between the Franks and Muslims in 12th-century Syria, balancing the traditional European view with an Islamic perspective. Each author's individual contribution lies in the new ideas and insights to a particular topic such as new interpretations in Crusades studies, Latin jurists in the Levant, the Italian colonies, propagation of violence and propaganda, role of individual popes, the impact on islamic society as reflected in literature, religious propaganda, and diplomatic relations.

Review: Cities of Childhood: Italian Colonies of the 1930s

Review: Cities of Childhood: Italian Colonies of the 1930s

Giuseppe Tartini i Josip Mihovil Stratico

Giuseppe Tartini i Josip Mihovil Stratico

Discourses on Eritrean Nationalism and Identity

Since Italy's defeat in World Ward II, Ethiopia has pressed its claim to Eritrea. Following an abortive federation imposed by the United Nations in 1950, Haile Selassie annexed the former Italian colony in 1962, and for the last three decades Eritreans have fought for their independence.

Border Pastoralism in Eastern Sudan

Border Pastoralism in Eastern Sudan

Measurements of Stinging Behaviour in Individual Worker Honeybees (Apis Mellifera L.)

SummaryWorker honeybees of different genetic backgrounds were tested, one bee at a time, in a laboratory bioassay of stinging behaviour. Bees from a highly defensive British colony exhibited a lower threshold voltage of electrical stimulation to elicit stinging than bees from a less defensive Italian colony. The procedure described allows natural stinging behaviour to be elicited in the laboratory without the possibility of group effects and free from the complicated sets of environmental conditions that are unavoidable when entire colonies are tested in an apiary. No significant relationship between lancet barb number and stinging behaviour was found for either British or Italian bees. These results are discussed in terms of the currently available array of bioassays of stinging behaviour, and the relevance of the new technique to studies of honeybee defensive behaviour and its genetic basis. Possible modification of the previously described technique for commercial venom collection is also discussed.

‘A disgrace to American enterprise’: Italian labour and the Arabian American oil company in Saudi Arabia, 1944–54

This article examines the recruitment, and employment in Saudi Arabia, of Italian labour by the Arabian American Oil Company in the immediate post‐war (1939–45) years. The Italians, mainly skilled construction labourers and technicians, were recruited from the former Italian colony of Eritrea as an alternative to importing costly American personnel. Discussion focuses on the economic and social discrimination which the Italians experienced, their resulting industrial disputes and the intervention of the Italian, Saudi and American governments.

The Ethiopian Famine: Cultural Survival's New Report

The Ethiopian Famine: Cultural Survival's New Report

The structure of an interchange chain of four chromosomes in Reticulitermes lucifugus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

All the male first meiotic divisions from three new Italian colonies of R. lucifugus are characterized by the presence of an interchange chain multiple of IV (2n=19 II+CIV). C-banding of male meiocytes demonstrates that this chain has two terminal acrocentrics, located at each end of the multiple. This may explain why rings-of-four multiples never form.

Religion d'attestation et créativité communautaire. L'immigration italienne au Rio Grande do Sul (1875-1914) . / Attesting Religion and Group Creativity. The Italian Emigration to Rio Grande do Sul (1875-1914)

When the social and cultural behaviour of Italian immigrants and their descendants to the Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) is studied, two features become immediately evident. On the one hand, the preservation of the original languages, customs and traditions, and on the other hand the total absence of an Italian national conscience. Finding themselves transplanted to a world which lacked the cultural symbols or references which would have allowed them to relate their memories, the immigrant's major concern was to re-establish the cultural elements of the Italian villages, particularly on the basis of religious values. The Catholic Church with its rites and feast-days was for many years the only social manifestation of the Italian colonies in this area. After examining religion as a psychological prop, the birth of the spontaneous communities of worship, the construction of the churches and the choice and role of the "lay priests", the A. concludes by emphasizing the analogy existing between the major aspects of the Italian colonization at the Rio Grande do Sul and those contained in the dossier of the Afro-Brazilian religions, studied by Roger Bastide.

The Effect of Citral and Geraniol Conditioning on the Searching Activity of Honeybee Recruits

SummaryTen forager honeybees from Caucasian and from Cordovan mutant Italian colonies in a wire-screen flight cage were marked, and conditioned to collect sucrose solution placed above petri dishes scented with citral or geraniol. Recruits from colonies conditioned to citral alone or to geraniol alone were attracted to the training scent in greater numbers when it was presented alone than when in combination with the other scent; very few were attracted to the other scent alone or to the unscented dishes. A large number of recruits from a wild-type Italian colony conditioned to citral + geraniol were attracted to dishes with the combination of scents and fewer to dishes with a single scent. Recruits from the same colony were not attracted to any of the scented dishes while its foragers were conditioned to gather sucrose from an unscented training station.

Dr. G. Schweinfurth's Journeys in the Sudan

Returning to Europe in July 1866, his excellent botanical collections and the wealth of other scientific data led to grants being made by the Berlin Academy of Sciences from the 'Humboldt Stiftung fur Naturforschung und Reisen' and by the Berlin Geographical Society 'Ritter Stiftung' to finance his exploration of the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Sudan. The journey, from 1869 until 1871, led to his discovery of the Ud1l river, for which he was awarded the 'Founders Medal' by the Royal Geographical Society in 1874. Returning once more to Egypt in 1874 he spent the next thirteen years in Cairo. In 1875 he became the first president of the Khedivial Geographical Society. From 188o until 1889 he was the director of the Cairo Museum. He travelled extensively through Egypt, contributing much to our knowledge of botany, geography and archaeology. In the summer of I88o he visited the Lebanon and in the spring of 1881 the island of Socotra. Learning of Professor Balfour's expedition of I88o, Schweinfurth, with characteristic generosity, handed over his own valuable plant collection to Professor Balfour for study and publication. In July 1888 he retired to Berlin, although spending the winter months in northern Africa and Arabia. In 1888-89 he visited the Yemen in order to rediscover plants from some of Forsskal's original collecting localities (Christensen, 1922), and in 1891 and I894 explored the Italian colony of Eritrea. The winters of I901, 1906 and 1908 were spent in Algiers and Tunisia, with his final visit to Egypt in 1914. He died in Berlin on the 19th September 1925, in his 89th year. Schweinfurth was a great scholar, a gifted naturalist and explorer, rendering outstanding contribution in the fields of botany, zoology, anthropology, geography, geology and archaeology; it was to Egyptology that he was to devote much of his later years. His rich collections contain many type specimens. Leeuwenberg (1965) gives the following herbaria, BO, BR, FL, G, K, LE, P, S, W. & WU as having isotypes of the Berlin collection destroyed during the war.

John Powers and the Italians: Politics in A Chicago Ward, 1896-1921

IN his nearly forty years as boss of Chicago's Nineteenth Ward, John Powers (known to his Italian constituents as Johnny De Pow and Gianni Pauli) proved himself a practitioner par excellence of all political expedients. The major concern of Powers and other inner-city bosses consisted of retaining political control in wards where the ethnic composition was undergoing rapid and extensive changes from Irish, German, and Scandinavian to Italian, East European Jewish, and Slavic. Methods that seemed corrupt to reform-minded residents eased the achievement of the boss' goal. Bargains, compromises, connections, patronage, and favors were the essential ingredients of practical politics. Ward politicians found jobs and did favors for constituents, obtained franchises for companies, and, in the process, boodled or profited at the public's expense. In addition, by relying on the criminal elements in their wards, bosses used intimidation and trickery to prevent the rise of rivals from new ethnic groups who might threaten their own positions.1 To Jane Addams of Hull House, Powers represented the forces of evil and corruption which prevented essential reforms; and in the 1890s she battled the ward boss in three highly publicized aldermanic campaigns. Italian leaders saw Powers as an insurmountable obstacle that barred the election of Italian candidates and denied to them control of a ward that contained the largest Italian group in the city. Newspaper editors and other reformers in the Italian colony seemed unable to recognize or accept the realities of politics in Chicago. Reflecting their middle-class orientation, they looked on