What Is a Group of Bees Called? Colony vs. Swarm

Bees live in highly organized societies, working together in remarkable ways. Their collective behaviors contribute to the survival of their groups, leading to questions about the terms used to describe these aggregations.

The Primary Terms

A “colony” refers to a group of bees living together in an established home. It comprises a queen, thousands of worker bees, hundreds of male drones, and developing young (eggs, larvae, pupae), all residing within a structure like a beehive or hollow tree. This collective unit functions as a single organism, contributing to its overall survival and reproduction.

In contrast, a “swarm” describes a temporary, transitional group of bees. Swarming is the natural reproductive process where the old queen and a significant portion of worker bees leave their original home to establish a new one. Swarms often cluster on surfaces like tree branches for a few hours to several days while scout bees search for a suitable permanent nest site. Unlike a colony, a swarm does not contain honeycomb, stored honey, or developing young, making them less defensive as they have no resources to protect.

The Social Structure of a Bee Colony

A bee colony thrives due to its social structure, which includes three distinct castes: the queen, workers, and drones. The queen is the sole reproductive female, responsible for laying many eggs, sometimes up to 1,500 per day during peak seasons. Her presence and the pheromones she produces also regulate the behavior of the entire colony, ensuring its cohesion and proper functioning.

Worker bees, all female, constitute the majority of the colony’s population, sometimes numbering between 20,000 and 80,000 individuals. They perform nearly all tasks for the colony’s survival, including foraging for food, building and maintaining the honeycomb, feeding larvae, guarding the hive, and regulating its temperature. Their roles often change as they age, adapting to the colony’s needs.

Drones are the male bees whose primary function is to mate with new queens from other colonies, contributing to genetic diversity. They do not participate in foraging or hive maintenance and are typically expelled from the colony as winter approaches to conserve resources.

Cooperation and Communication

The effectiveness of a bee colony stems from its cooperation and communication. Bees work together on tasks such as collecting nectar and pollen, constructing honeycomb structures, and maintaining the hive’s temperature. This collective effort extends to defending the hive against threats.

Bees communicate through chemical signals, known as pheromones, and physical behaviors. Pheromones, emitted by different bees, convey specific messages, such as signaling the queen’s presence, alerting others to danger, or guiding foragers back to the hive entrance. The waggle dance, performed by returning forager bees, informs hive mates about the direction and distance of food sources. This dance, which involves a figure-eight pattern and abdominal waggles, allows bees to efficiently locate valuable resources.