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 Hive Box, which is $15.95 a month.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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