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The Hive Box Subscription Review – June 2017

Ragan Buckley
ByRagan BuckleyJun 27, 2017 | 10 comments

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

The Hive Box
4 overall rating
2 Ratings | 0 Reviews

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.

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

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 Hive Box, which is $15.95 a month.

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive 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!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

The box came with this information card detailing the items in the box. There was also a “thank you” card for subscribing!

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

Citronella Votive and Votive Holder from Big Dipper Wax Works – Value $8.00

This is a beeswax candle meant to be used outside. We’ve received other Big Dipper Wax Works candles from The Hive Box in the past, and they are very clean burning and long-lasting. This one is great for when my husband is grilling on the deck and wants to keep insects away. (Note that the value above is for the combined value for a glass votive holder and a citronella votive candle from the Big Dipper web store.)

Bee Pollen from Bee Local – Value $1.50?

Bee pollen is a superfood with lots of amino acids.  The information card had some suggestions on how to use it; I put it in a smoothie, which is my default for powdered products. It didn’t noticeably change the taste (I only used a little). I do like to consume superfoods, even if I can’t always see results right away. I feel good about the extra nutrition, anyway, and this is something I haven’t tried before. 

I estimated the value based on my guess that this vial is maybe half an ounce.

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

Torie and Howard Pink Grapefruit and Tupelo Honey Hard Candies – Value $3.99

These are free of all the major allergens (though they are not vegan, obviously, since they contain honey). I’ve had this brand before from Yuzen, Love with Food, and other subscriptions, and I like pretty much everything from them I’ve tried. The honey and grapefruit here are both noticeable, and the flavors work really well together.

Check out my review of the June 2017 Hive Box!

Raw Meadowfoam and Blackberry Honey (6 oz, from Oregon) – Value $12?

The Hive Box sends out a lot of honey from small apiaries. These businesses aren’t always named on the information card (some are not even equipped for e-commerce), so I have based the value here on other small producer honey, like this one available in the Hive Box shop. I don’t think my palate is sophisticated enough to distinguish this from other honey, but I mixed some into my tea, and it was quite nice. Another use we have found for honey during berry and cherry season is to heat a few tablespoons up in a dry skillet with a bunch of fresh fruit until it turns syrupy, then use it on pancakes.

Verdict: I calculated a value of about $25.50 for the June Hive Box Mini.  Of course, some of the values above were estimates, but even so, this comes out higher than the cost of the box plus shipping, which I think is great, considering several of the items are exclusives or not otherwise commercially available and most of the items are from small producers. I also think the curation was great; you always get honey, but the other items are varied, so you don’t end up with too much of one type of thing.

What do you think of the June 2017 Hive Box Mini?  Do you have a non-food use for honey?

Starting at $24.95
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"Each month, Hive Box subscribers will receive a selection of natural bee-friendly products, like raw honey samples, beeswax and beauty products, bee-themed paper goods and decor."
Ragan Buckley
Ragan Buckley
Ragan stumbled across My Subscription Addiction in late 2013 and immediately subscribed to way too many beauty boxes. She's now focused on boxes for her cats and dog, vegan/vegetarian food boxes, and craft subscriptions (and she didn't give up beauty boxes entirely).

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10 comments

Alex

Okay I’m ready to subscribe! For me the value is absolutely there especially because of the conservation efforts.

I love honey and every box has fabulous honey in it which is worth the price. The organic honey I get at the farmers market is about the same price or more so I think it’s a great sub!

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Zo

I am having trouble finding the mini subscription on their website. is it there and I’m just not seeing it?

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Ragan

I signed up for this a few months ago, through Cratejoy. I can still see The Hive Box mini subscription in my Cratejoy account but I can’t find it on their website either. I wonder if they have stopped offering that version to new subscribers? I will contact them and ask, because I have been having some issues logging in to my account as well, so I need to email them anyway.

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Ragan

As a follow-up, they got back to me pretty quickly. They are not offering the “mini” anymore but anyone who signed up for it will continue to get it through the duration of their subscription.

Heather L

I’m really interested in this sub! I love honey and really enjoy supporting small businesses.

Do they ever send out suggestions on ways to use honey? My only concern is I’d get a huge stock pile of it

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Ragan

They do send out some suggestions by email and I’ve seen occasional literature in the box with ideas, as well.

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Beth

LOVE all the Torie and Howard candies! they’re sweet, but not sickeningly sweet, like most other hard candy. I especially like their “pomegranate and nectarine” ones.

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Luna

I found this link for the 9g bee pollen; it’s RV is $3.95:

https://www.beelocal.com/products/copy-of-pollen-pure-bee-pollen-vial-9-grams

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Ragan

Thanks. Apparently I didn’t see it because there is a “see more products” button on their site I didn’t notice the first time. When you click that, you can find the pollen vial.

This means the value of the box is about $2.50 higher than the total above. It already exceeded the cost of the box plus shipping but this makes it just a little bit better, even.

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Sheri

I am interested in this sub. Thanks for your review, Ragan.

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