Applicants were initially obliged to prove descent from four grandparents of the higher aristocracy, but later from 16 great-great-grandparents of the same rank.
Each person has many lines of ancestry in both the maternal and paternal lines; for instance, there are eight lines of great-grandparents, sixteen lines of great-great-grandparents, and so on.
This versatile toy is a real classic -- chances are your great-great-grandparents played with one, and your kids have probably discovered it for themselves as well.
If one traces the ancestry of any male bee (1 bee), he has 1 parent (1 bee), 2 grandparents, 3 great-grandparents, 5 great-great-grandparents, and so on.