Carpenter bees are solitary insects, so their nests typically do not house large groups like honeybee colonies. Generally, a single carpenter bee nest contains fewer than 10 bees, often just a mated female and occasionally a male guarding the nest

. Each female carpenter bee creates her own tunnel or gallery inside softwood, where she lays eggs and provisions cells with pollen and nectar. While multiple females may sometimes use the same nest entrance, each female usually maintains her own separate tunnels within the nest

. Unlike social bees, carpenter bees do not form colonies with hundreds or thousands of individuals. Typically, only one generation of bees lives in a nest at a time, and the nest may be reused and expanded over multiple years

. In summary:

• Carpenter bee nests usually contain under 10 bees.
• Often just one female and one male per nest.
• Multiple females may share a nest entrance but have separate tunnels.
• Nests are solitary or small groups, not large colonies.

This solitary nesting behavior contrasts strongly with social bees like honeybees or bumblebees, which live in large colonies