Collections of Colonies of Bees was started as a side project for Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller, both of the post-rock group Pele. They mixed acoustic instruments with electronic sounds and released their self-titled debut on U.K.'s The Rosewood Union label. Collections of Colonies of Bees drew attention for their first LP and found a home in the U.S. label Crouton, which released Rance, fa.ce (a, and the Meyou EP. Pillowscars Records, a Swedish label, released their Stuck EP in 2003. Collections of Colonies of Bees decided to add two new members for their Customer release -- computer and synth operators Jon Minor (also of Pele) and Jim Schoenecker, who had worked with Minor on electronic projects in the past. Polyvinyl Records released Customer in October of 2004. The follow-up full-length Giving arrived in 2011, marking the departure of Mueller from the project.