The Hive Box is a bee-friendly subscription box that partners with small businesses and artisans that work with honeybees to make their products. Honeybees are threatened due to conditions like colony collapse disorder and The Hive Box is helping to combat that by partnering with people who support local bee populations.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This review is of the Mini, $15.95 a month, box.
The Subscription Box: The Hive Box
The Cost: $15.95 for the “Mini” Hive Box or $24.95 for the regular-sized Hive Box. Shipping is $6.95.
The Products: Food, bath and body items, beeswax candles, and other specialty gifts with a bee-friendly theme. And of course, lots of honey!
Ships to: U.S.
Check out all of our The Hive Box reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory for more great artisan food boxes!
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The box came with this information card detailing the items in the box. There was also a “thank you” card for subscribing!
Quin Candy Oregon Honey and Hazelnut Caramels (5 pieces) – Value $3.33 (Buy a package of 15 for $10.00)
I am always happy to see Quin caramels in a subscription box. They are delicious and these were no exception. These had the same great flavor I have come to expect, and the hazelnut was a nice touch. If you are into finding local products, both the hazelnuts and the honey are from Oregon.
Talisman Designs Get Real Solid Beechwood Honey Spreader and Dipper – Value $6.59
To me, this goes really well with the honey from this month. It is a smaller amount than last month, so (for my purposes) it is more useful for having with biscuits or something similar, and this spreader will come in handy–it is a good size to fit into a smaller honey jar.
Sunny Honey Company Sweet Clover Honey, 3 oz. – Value $5.00
One of the fun things about The Hive Box is learning about all the little apiaries out there that I never would’ve heard of otherwise. There are so many people who are passionate about keeping bees! At any rate, I don’t seem to have a palate able to distinguish between different types of honey, but this was good in my tea, and that’s what counts. If you do a little baking (or make granola, or enjoy homemade yogurt, or drink a lot of tea), you can easily use up all the honey you’ll receive from this subscription.
Rachel’s Plan Bee Bee Cream, 0.5 oz. – Value $6.00
I actually was familiar with this brand from a scrub I received in another beauty box (ugh, can’t remember which one). Anyway, because this contains beeswax, it is pretty thick/solid. But I find that thickness really helps on certain types of skin, like rough patches on the elbows or feet–this stays in place long enough to actually have an effect, whereas a thinner lotion might not get absorbed. It also smells good!
Verdict: I calculated a value of about $20.92 for the May Hive Box Mini. That is just shy of the cost of the subscription plus shipping, but it is close enough for my purposes for a couple of reasons. First, these are mostly small companies and independent producers, and I don’t think I ever would’ve heard of some of them without receiving their products in this box. Plus, with a lot of companies like this, you have minimum order amounts and/or individual shipping charges, and you don’t have that here. Finally, the value has been pretty high in other months, and I believe it is averaging out over time. I liked all the items this month and found them to be very much keeping to the mission of this subscription.
What do you think of the May 2017 Hive Box Mini?
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