Bees!!! (Brain Teaser)?

Question

Hello everyone, got another brain teaser for ya. This one's definitely a challenge so please show your work. Take care and enjoy!


"Bees"

A male bee is born from an unfertilized egg, a female bee from a fertilized one. In other words, a male bee has only a mother wheras a female bee has a mother and a father. How many total ancestors does a male bee have going back ten generations?

*Hint: Try drawing a diagram for this one...

Answer 1

531441

Answer 2

Okay, so I drew the diagram and got to seven generations before I saw the pattern:

Generation, Number of Bees:
1 1
2 1
3 2
4 3
5 5
6 8
7 13

1,1,2,3,5,8,13.

See the pattern? It's the fibonacci numbers. Each number is the sum of the two previous.

1. 1+1=2
2. 1+2=3
3. 2+3=5
4. 3+5=8
5. 5+8=13

The relevant part is as follows, not including the first generation because that's the original bee, and he can't be his own ancestor:

1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89
Sum: 231

Answer: 231

*I may have made some small math mistake at some point, but you get the idea.

Answer 3

17

Answer 4

30
10 mothers and from the mother bee a father and mother each

Answer 5

If you don't count the male's generation, going back 10 generations nets 231 ancestors.

1st - mom (That's ONE, one mama bee!)
2nd - grandbees - m/f (Two more)
3rd - great grandbees - m/f m (Three more)
4th - great, great grandbees - f/m f f/m (Five more)

1 male bee has these ancestors per generation:
1
2
3
5
8
13
21
34
55
89


Can we say Fibonacci?

Answer 6

10?

Answer 7

that kinda only works verbally. since bee is not a letter.

Answer 8

challenging thing. research with google. that might help!

Answer 9

none