Sweden’s McDonald’s restaurants are replacing regular roadside billboards with signs that double as “bee hotels.”
The fast-food chain stated, without pollination from bees, one-third of our food would be threatened, which already promotes biodiversity with rooftop beehives at some of their franchises.
According to researchers, it is estimated that 30 percent of Sweden’s wild bees are threatened and a big problem is that they lack places to rest.
The idea of Entering bee hotels is to make permanent wood installations with drilled holes in the customizable copy that provide a safe haven for wild bees and other insects.
McDonald’s also collaborating with outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux to create habitats for bees on the back of unused billboards hopes to scale up this initiative in the spring of 2020.
Henrik Nerell, environmental manager at McDonald’s in Sweden, said in a statement, that survival of bees is an important issue for society as a whole. That we can use our signs for a good cause feels great.
Furthermore, he added “The initiative, which has sprung from our franchisees’ personal commitment to the issue, has been made possible in collaboration with JCDecaux and we are proud and excited to welcome our flying guests soon as they move into our bee hotels,”
In May, McDonald’s opened a beehive featuring two drive-thru windows, a patio and outdoor seating, sleek wood paneling, and advertisements on the windows.
For much of the past decade, beekeepers primarily in the United States and Europe have been reporting annual hive losses of 30 percent or higher, substantially more than is considered normal or sustainable.
