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Sweden‘s McDonald’s are creating a buzz by converting billboards into bee hotels
McDonald’s in Sweden is helping the country’s struggling bee population with bee “hotels” embedded on the back of roadside advertising hoardings.
SWEDEN’S MCDONALD’S BILLBOARDS DOUBLE AS BEE HOTELS
In May, McDonald’s Sweden celebrated World Bee Fay by building the ‘World’s Smallest McDonald’s’ — a miniature replica of its golden arches that doubles up as a beehive. Its latest initiative goes one step further, converting McDonald’s billboards into tiny ‘Bee Hotels’.
![The campaign, launched in conjunction with outdoor-advertising giant JC Decaux, debuted this month on the reverse of a north-facing billboard in Jarfalla, about 20 minutes from downtown Stockholm. (Apparently bees prefer hives that face south or southeast.)](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpJaEJYa.jpeg)
McDonald’s Sweden hopes to scale up the number of boards hotels in spring 2020.
"Without pollination from bees, a third of the food we eat would be threatened," read a statement from McDonald’s Sweden. But at least 30 percent of the country’s wild bee population is at risk, the fast-food chain adds. "A big problem is that they lack places to live." The company hopes to scale up the number of boards hotels in spring 2020.
![Holes drilled in the words](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpE7a0hd.jpeg)
![Some restaurants have also opened their own bee hotels by installing permanent wood installations with drilled holes in the copy (‘Always open’) where wild bees and other insects can make themselves comfortable](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpsjZgq8.jpeg)
![The McHive was designed and built by award winning set designer Nicklas Nilsson. It was auctioned off on 21 May during a charity fund raiser for Ronald McDonald house charites and sold for over $10,000.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phplOuP90.jpeg)
Bee hotels come in all shapes and sizes
Not all bees live in colonies or build hives in which to live and nest. Many bee species are solitary; they live alone and build their nests in tiny places like hollow stems and holes in wood. Though they do not make honey, solitary bees are absolutely necessary as pollinators of crops and flowers. These bees are usually very docile and peaceful, very reluctant to sting. Bee hotels are a great way to attract more of these beneficial pollinators into your garden while helping to give the bees a habitat that will aid in boosting their declining populations.
What are bee hotels?
A bee hotel contains materials that bees like to nest in, like wood drilled with holes, hollow bamboo stalks, and other materials that mimic the bees’ natural nesting areas. A bee hotel can contain a huge variety of materials, or just a few, and can be large and elaborate or small and simple. Size really doesn’t matter, since each bee really only needs one hole in which to nest.
Building bee habitats like this is obviously beneficial to garden plants and to bee populations in general, but they also look really cool! Here are a few examples to perhaps inspire you to create your very own bee hotel.
Source: OffGridWorld
![This would be a great way to upcycle some old pallets, and the living roof could be planted with annual flowers to give the bees a convenient food source.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpD4kOIA.jpeg)
![](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpeh8yNU.jpeg)
![This would be another fun DIY project using upcycled pallets, bricks, wood, and other materials you might already have lying around your property.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpk4ijIR.jpeg)
![A terracotta pot, some bamboo canes, and raffia are all you need to make this little hanging bee hotel.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpDKQ0S0.jpeg)
![This adorable little cinder block house is a great example of how you can make one out of scrap materials, and it takes up very little space.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phppRNTDH.jpeg)