How many generations per year do carpenter bees have?

Carpenter bees typically have one generation per year. This life cycle is characterized by the adults emerging in spring, mating, and then the females laying eggs in nests that they excavate in wood. After a period of development, the eggs hatch into larvae, which grow over the summer. By fall, the new adults are usually ready to emerge, but they overwinter in their nests, which aligns with the singular generational cycle.

In contrast, options suggesting multiple generations—like two, three, or four—do not align with the typical reproductive cycle of carpenter bees. These scenarios might apply to other insect species with different lifecycles or more favorable conditions for rapid reproduction, but carpenter bees are relatively seasonal in their generational cycle, tying their lifecycle to the warmer months and the availability of resources.