The paper presents the problem of determining the prioritisation of production orders. The proposed criterion function allows a comprehensive evaluation of various ways of prioritising taking into account both the income derived from the execution of production orders and the penalty for any delays which may occur. The criterion function was implemented in an algorithm based on the operation of a colony of bees. The experiments which have been carried out make it possible to evaluate the solutions obtained through the provided algorithm and compare them with the solutions obtained through the typical heuristic rules. The results show that the prioritisation obtained through the algorithm is characterized by the highest qualities of the criterion function and is definitely superior to that obtained through the simple heuristic rules.