What Is a Group of Bees Called?

A group of bees is most often called a colony — the term used by beekeepers, entomologists, and casual observers alike for the highly organized, cooperative society bees actually live in. Swarm is reserved for a specific event: when a colony outgrows its hive, a portion of the bees (led by the queen or a new queen) leaves together to found a new colony elsewhere. Bike is the older, more whimsical term you’ll find in classic collective-noun lists, though it’s rarely used in everyday speech today.

Where Does “Colony” (and “Bike”) Come From?

“Colony” describes any group living together and sharing labor toward a common goal — the same word used for ants, beavers, and early human settlements — and it’s a literal fit for bees, whose colonies divide work between a single egg-laying queen, female worker bees who forage and build, and male drones whose only role is mating. “Bike,” by contrast, is a dialect term with murkier origins, likely from Middle English and Scots words for a nest or hive, and shows up alongside “bike” in older regional English collective-noun lists rather than in modern scientific usage.

Bee Colony Facts

• A healthy honeybee colony can hold 20,000 to 60,000 bees at its summer peak, shrinking to a much smaller cluster over winter.
• Colonies are organized into three castes: a single queen (the colony’s only reproducing female), thousands of sterile female workers, and a smaller number of male drones whose sole purpose is mating with new queens.
• Worker bees communicate the location of food sources to each other through the waggle dance, a figure-eight movement that encodes both direction and distance.
• Only female bees (workers and the queen) have stingers; male drones cannot sting at all.
• Bees are responsible for pollinating roughly a third of the food crops humans eat, making colony health a major agricultural and ecological concern — especially amid ongoing colony collapse disorder.

Examples in a Sentence

“The beekeeper checked on the colony of bees every two weeks through the summer.”

“A swarm of bees settled in the old oak tree before the beekeeper relocated them to a new hive.”

Other Names for a Group of Bees

Colony is the standard term for a settled bee population living in a hive. Swarm specifically describes bees in transit to a new home. Bike and cluster are older or more casual alternates that still appear in collective-noun references, though they’re uncommon in modern beekeeping and scientific writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a group of bees called?

A group of bees is most commonly called a colony. Bike is an older, more traditional term, and swarm refers specifically to bees relocating to found a new colony.

What is the difference between a colony and a swarm of bees?

A colony is a settled, established population living in a hive. A swarm is a temporary, moving group of bees that has left an overcrowded colony to establish a new one elsewhere.

How many bees are in a colony?

A healthy honeybee colony can hold 20,000 to 60,000 bees at its summer peak, dropping to a much smaller cluster during winter.

Can male bees sting?

No. Only female bees — workers and the queen — have stingers. Male drones cannot sting.

Why are bee colonies important?

Bees pollinate roughly a third of the food crops humans eat, so declining colony health has significant agricultural and ecological consequences.