Sweden opened world’s tiniest McDonald’s to protect bees

The project grew out of an unusual feature of Swedish McDonald’s. To lessen their environmental impact, some McDonald’s locations began installing beehives on their roofs. (iStock)

It’s the exact opposite of a McMansion. The McHive is the world’s smallest McDonald’s, and it’s not even fit for humans.

The McHive is a miniature McDonald’s replica but instead of a cash register, fryer and seating inside, it’s just rows and rows of honeycombs meant for bees.

The project grew out of an unusual feature of Swedish McDonald’s. To lessen their environmental impact, some McDonald’s locations began installing beehives on their roofs.

“The initiative started out locally but is now growing,” NORD DDB, the creative agency behind the project, explained. “More franchisees around the country are joining the cause and have also started replacing the grass around their restaurants with flowers and plants that are important for the wellbeing of wild bees.”

In honor of World Bee Day (celebrated each year on May 20), the fast-food company commissioned award-winning Swedish set designer Nicklas Nilsson (who has worked on music videos for David Bowie and Lykke Li) to create the “world’s smallest McDonald’s” to welcome “thousands of important guests.” It comes complete with golden arches, drive-through and ads in the windows.

The mini-beehive McDonald’s itself will be auctioned off to benefit the Ronald McDonald House charities.

“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,” Christoffer Rönnblad, marketing director of McDonald’s Sweden, told Adweek.