Environmental niche Ligurian bees thrive in the mild Kangaroo Island climate with ample nectar and pollen sources. A Government queen breeding project known as the Bee Farm commenced operations by hiving 300 colonies from tree hollows and burrows in Flinders Chase National Park. Mating hives were transported to separate areas to ensure an unrelated drone population for mating with the queen.
Wild hives exist throughout the forest areas, in caves and burrows and in walls of sheds and houses.
The population of Ligurian bees existing in a natural state fluctuates according to the flowering cycle of nectar sources and other factors, including bushfires. Since bees can forage only within around 5 kilometers of their hive and cannot transport their young, there is natural attrition of hives according to seasonal conditions. Areas where plentiful hive sites abound are then gradually re-colonized. During spring swarms issue in search of new homes. As bee diseases present on the mainland have not reached Kangaroo Island, these swarms can be, and are, collected by apiarists and incorporated into their apiaries.