McDonalds Opened A Miniature Restaurant For Bees

By FizX on May 23, 2019@fizx

Bee colonies all over the world are dying at dangerous rates. No more so than in the USA, where it is considered the 44% of colonies were died out in 2016 alone. There are many causes for this startling decline, most of which are down to us as usual.

Things like excessive use of pesticides, diesel fumes, intense farming methods and parasites from introduced species have added, and if things don’t change soon we could face a major failure in our food supply. Because you see, these tiny, hard-working bees are an essential part of diverse ecosystems and pollinate up to 80% of our crops, and if they keep ondying at these rates we can say farewell to many of the plants that we live on, as well as a whole universe of other creatures that need them to survive.

Image credits: NORDDDB

Some Mcdonald’s in Sweden are doing their bit to help our vitally important friends, by hosting beehives on the roofs of their restaurants. Some are also planting flowers outside too, providing a bee-friendly environment that has helped to boost the population in the Scandinavian country. Pretty cool right?

Image credits: NORDDDB

To pay tribute to these efforts, Mcdonald’s commissioned a professional carpenter to make the ‘smallest ever Mcdonald’s,” which is, in fact, a fully functioning beehive featuring a McDonald’s sign, drive-through, an outside seating area and even little advertisements on the windows!

Image credits: NORDDDB

The impressive level of detail has not gone unnoticed by the customers at the “McHive,” Bored Panda spoke to one diner, who said, as far as we could make out, that he was “buzzing.”

Image credits: NORDDDB

With 37,000 restaurants around the globe, the Swedish initiative could prove to be a huge help to bees if it is adopted in other countries.

Image credits: NORDDDB

“We have a lot of really devoted franchisees who contribute to our sustainability work, and it feels good that we can use our size to amplify such a great idea as beehives on the rooftops,” said Christoffer Rönnblad, marketing director of McDonald’s Sweden, in an interview with Adweek.

Image credits: NORDDDB

The EU recently enforced a total ban on the outdoor use of neonicotinoids, widely used pesticides that endanger bees and have contributed sharply to their decline.

Image credits: NORDDDB

In the US, however, the current administration approved a dump of bee-killing pesticides on 16 million acres of land with the use of ’emergency’ approval to save cotton crops. While this may have worked in the short term, the lack of long term care for a vital pollinator reflects badly on the US government’s commitment to serious environmental issues.

Image credits: NORDDDB

What do you think? Should Mcdonald’s pick up this initiative beyond Swedish shores? Are mega-corporations like this to be applauded for taking the lead on vital environmental issues, or are they just jumping on the bandwagon for marketing purposes? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!