Steady-state fluorescence energy transfer experiments have been carried out with fluorescein (donor) and tetramethylrhodamine (acceptor) covalently bound onto the surface of amino functionalized polystyrene latex microspheres. 5-Carboxyfluorescein-NHS and 6-carboxytetramethylrhodamine-NHS ester were used to synthesize donor-labeled particles and acceptor-labeled particles respectively, as well as donor-acceptor-labeled particles. Some changes in the spectroscopic characteristics of the dyes after their covalent binding onto the PS latex were observed. A theoretical model describing a random distribution of dyes onto the surface of a sphere corroborates well the experimental energy transfer results.