The days are long and hot, and the kids are out of school. If you’re looking for a project idea, a great place to get inspiration is BRING's Planet Improvement Center. The Planet Improvement Center is kind of like the DIY crafters Disneyland; they have everything from old doors to fountain fixtures. Starting this week, they also have about 600 bee boxes which were returned to GloryBee after Bee Weekend and donated to BRING.
Hopefully all 8 million bees that were once housed in these bee boxes are happily producing honey in their new hive homes. The honey bees were transported from their Northern California breeder in the middle of the night, carried in their bee boxes.
But what do you do with the bee box once it’s done being a temporary home to bees? Recycling would take a lot of time, separating the wood and the metal from all 600 boxes. This is a perfect chance to upcycle! Here are three upcycling suggestions that our employees made:
1. Create a living wall out of succulents.
Stack 6 boxes on top of each other, fill with dirt, and cut holes in the wire. Plant succulents for a low maintenance living wall.
2. Make a bug house.
Kids love bugs. Use the bee box as a little house for bugs to live in.
3. Bird house.
Nail the box to a tree or porch area, create a friendly bird habitat, and wait to see who comes to live in the box.
Have a good idea for upcycling a bee box? If you have a bee box or purchase one from BRING, let us know what you did with yours!