HiveAlive Reviews

“We have been using Hive Alive for three years now and have found it to be very effective in bee health. We operate 20,000 hives in around the center of the North Island, producing Clover, Bush honey and manuka honey. We feed Hive Alive in the Autumn around the months of April and May. The population increases rapidly and honey production increased. On average production per hive is approximately 25% more and the hives are more consistent in the production. To summarise we would recommend using Hive Alive to beekeepers because honey production per hive far exceeds the cost of the product.”

Donald Tweeddale, Commercial Beekeeper (20,000 hives), New Zealand

“The colonies we fed with HiveAlive last year have had only 15 percent losses so far, compared to 25 percent for the rest. They appear to have built-up very well. There were 75 colonies that we started from packages in early April and we split them into 300 in mid-June. My close beekeeper friend who runs about 300 colonies bought the same packages of bees in April. He also split them, but he didn't experience the same buildup that I saw in my bees. He did not use HiveAlive, and he has since seen losses of about 35 percent, so far. He plans to buy some HiveAlive this week.”

Nick S., 1000 colonies, New York, USA

We had a very wet Spring and had to feed longer than usual since the bees could not get out. So instead of just syrup and pollen patties we used HiveAlive this year in our syrup to help boost our hives. It has really made a Huge difference in our brood production. Our hives are full and we are seeing an astounding difference in our honey production this year already. I will definitely will be using when we feed over winter to help keep the colonies healthy.

LM, USA

"Gidday Team, from Canterbury New Zealand. We were kind of skeptical before trying Hive Alive because of our past experience with other supplements and substitutes, plus the Hive Alive, on the surface, is a little pricey compared to others, however, we gave it a go and here are our findings. You only use half the amount that you use of the others so Hive Alive actually works out cheaper. Super Strong, super productive, healthy colonies so higher profits for the season. We have struggled to find any Varroa Mites since we started using Hive Alive. Oh they are still there we're certain but in far less numbers, no deformed wing virus and no other mite related issues so the mites are far more manageable. The girls love the Hive Alive in the sugar syrup, they really suck it down. we are hoping our New Zealand supplier will be selling the Hive Alive Fondant also as we approach winter. We teach and mentor new beekeepers here in Canterbury, New Zealand and throughout the world with our online Distance Mentoring Program and because of our experience with Hive Alive we push the benefits of Hive Alive with all of our students worldwide."

Daz and Mandi, New Zealand

"First year beekeeper. I have an Apimaye hive and put regular sugar water in one of the top feeders and sugar water mixed with Hive Alive in the other top feeder. The bees LOVED the Hive Alive mixture and ate it twice as fast as the regular sugar water. They built out comb quickly and the population exploded. Now going into winter I have a strong colony and will be feeding them Hive Alive fondant patties over the winter. I love this stuff!"

Kristi, USA USA

“Giving HiveAlive to our bees in Autumn 2017 we didn't think that it could improve our situation that good. We live in Central Russia and usually suffer from big overwinter mortality of bees. This year the bees wintered outdoors and the result was unbelievable. Spring colony build-up impressed us as well! We are going to use HiveAlive further because everything that was said in an advertising brochure has been proved here, in Central Russia, at our family apiary.”

Danis Lobastov, Chuvash Republic, Russia

“I have been very impressed with the product so far. I work closely with another local beekeeper and we generally follow similar treatment protocols. Early in the fall, both of us had losses of around 20 percent, but by late November, we noticed his hives were not as strong as mine, and he has since incurred greater losses. The one main difference in our operations: I use HiveAlive.”

Steve S., 200 colonies, Michigan, USA

“Before trying HiveAlive, I went into the 2019 winter with 57 hives and spring 2020 had 15 survive. Mites were good, stores were good. I took those 15 survivors and grew them back (not buying Queens or Bees) to 60 hives going into the 2020 winter. In the process I was feeding syrup with HiveAlive and continued right up to winter. My Feb. 24th check revealed I have only lost 2 out of the 60 and that is in Northern Michigan.”

John, Michigan, USA USA

“I add HiveAlive to all my sugar syrup and have seen an increase in bee numbers, health, and resistance to disease. HA is a permanent part of my feeding protocol.”

Clarke, Georgia, USA USA

I swear by this product for building strong healthy hives. This is the only product I have fed my bees for the past 2 years and will continue to do so going forward.

Elizabeth B, USA

"I am having great results with HiveAlive last winter and now this Spring. The results are dramatic, as my hives are growing like never before."

Mike Martel, Backyard Beekeeper, Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA

"If there is a ‘perfect’ Spring you may not see a dramatic difference between hives fed it and those not fed it. However, if it is a cold wet Spring and the bees can’t get out, you will probably see a big difference. Problem is that when you need to feed it at the optimum time in Autumn, you don’t know what the Spring will be like so it is really an insurance policy. It is widely used by commercial operators in NZ including two of NZ’s largest beekeeping operations - draw your own conclusions. Also of note is that HiveAlive has been developed specifically for honey bees”

Peter Lyttle, Beekeeper & CEO of New Zealand Beeswax Ltd

"My colony loss rate during last year's brutal winter was about 10-15 percent of our entire honeybee population. While that may seem high, it was far less severe than other beekeepers in the province, who had over-winter losses of at least 50 percent in their colonies. I use it in sugar syrup form, but we've actually taken it a step further by incorporating HiveAlive into pollen patties. We have done comparison tests with competitive pollen patty products, but there's really no comparison between the HiveAlive Pollen Patties and the others. The bees devour the HiveAlive patties and don't even touch the others. Prior to using HiveAlive, I would mix my syrup and put it in the feeders. When I'd go back later to refill the feeder, I'd find that the syrup had gone bad with green mold. Since I have been incorporating HiveAlive into my syrup, none of it has gone moldy. I was kind of shocked. Even unused syrup from the spring will last into the fall with HiveAlive in it. That was a totally unexpected development. I think beekeepers recognize the benefits of HiveAlive on the gut of the bee. It's getting a good reputation for helping the bees' digestive systems and getting them through the tough Canadian winters. My bees are alive, they're healthy, and we're definitely not having the losses that everyone else is suffering. HiveAlive is really paying off for me."

Peter Dickey, Commercial Beekeeper, Ontario, Canada

"We're happy with the product- it definitely works. Out of the beekeepers in our local area, we've had higher than average yields."

Kyle Glendenning, Commercial Beekeeper, Saskatchewan, Canada

"Last season was the second season that we used HiveAlive. As small hobbyists, we drastically increased our apiary, doubling our hive number to 23 last year with a number of purchased nucs and older hives. We fed them well with HiveAlive and by the end of the season, the hives in general were very, very strong and productive. Our honey production was substantial and very delicious. We have purchased the larger bottle and will be using it this year as we expand to 35 hives. Thank you again for your product and detailed research supporting it. Cheers,"

Ian, Ontario, Canada Canada

"I believe in this Product and just started using it last year...my bees were wintered indoors for over five months and came through the winter literally full of bees in two brood chambers and look so healthy. Now I am feeding it in the springtime and my bees are healthy and the colonies are growing dramatically...I now put HiveAlive in all my feed and my bees love it. I am in no way associated with this company and receive no compensation...this is just a comment from my experience. Thank-you to you Dara and your team for developing this amazing product for the bees!! I think it is an absolutely amazing product. Beekeeping in Saskatchewan Canada."

Dennis Wood, Canada

"I contacted some of the bee keepers in my area (Southern Mountains of Colorado) to see how their colonies are building up. No one is seeing the colony build up like I am seeing with my colonies. But then again, no one else in the area is using HiveAlive."

D.M., Beekeeper, Colorado, USA

"I and a few other beekeepers in my club started using hive alive fondant patties last fall and carried that through the winter and into this spring. I can’t believe how strong my colonies are right now and how much honey they still have in the hives. The others are reporting the same. Another beekeeper who has hives just about 100 yards away did not use hive alive and their colonies are weak. They are ordered a box of patties so we’ll see how the bees respond. Not a scientific study of course, but I really think it’s the hive alive. The bees love it. Thanks again."

Pat, US Beekeeper USA

"I used 5ml of HiveAlive™ per 500 ml of syrup, and then repeated for 7 days, I saw real progress so now I use HiveAlive™ when I suspect symptoms of a weak hive. My colonies are more productive, better nourished and stronger!"

Honey Bee Vet, Northern Spain

"When I first used it, it worked. I saw an eruption in hives the first spring I used it. Life expectancy is longer, they're stronger and they build up quickly. I'm using it 3 years."

Chris, Beekeeper, Maryland, USA

"I was sceptical of HiveAlive initially but I’ve been using it the last few years and now I feed any colony that does not show the same progress as others. Most recently, in one of my apiaries I had a few colonies that were so weak I thought I was going to have re-queen or kill off but I took a chance and fed and sprayed a few of them syrup with HiveAlive once a week for three weeks. The HiveAlive fed colonies exploded and ended up giving me two supers of honey each. Very impressed."

Willie O' Byrne, Beekeeping Lecturer, Ireland

I feed hive alive In fall to boost hive size going in to cold weather. It seems to strengthen the hive to handle colder weather. It’s important to make sure that the varroa count is at an acceptable level.

Milcamp65, USA

"Greek beekeepers that have tried HiveAlive™ during fall 2014, have reported no severe infections from Nosema. Moreover, those who added HiveAlive in during spring 2015, reported good results as far as quality and quantity of egg laying and brood extend.

We have also used HiveAlive™ in our apiary, at Rafina, Athens, and we would like to confirm the same promising results."

Manolis Skareas, Beekeeper & Head of M.Sc. Agronomy (University of Reading)

"I had a very weak six hive apiary, four died out and the other two were weak and tested positive for Nosema. I used HiveAlive™ last autumn on the two remaining hives and they are now strong and produced an excellent crop of honey. Both recently tested clear of Nosema. It appears HiveAlive™ saved my bees!"

G. Coyne, Beekeeper & Chairman of the Connemara Beekeeping Association, Ireland

"I currently run 2500 honey production hives, 500 of which are used for kiwi fruit pollination. Additionally, we have another 100 hives and 600 baby nucleus colonies for queen/cell production. We mainly concentration on bush and pasture honey and we operate primarily in an area south of Auckland and north of Rotorua. I have used Hive Alive for 2 seasons now and first saw the product in the brochure sent out by NZ Beeswax. I have noticed we have had a lot healthier colonies coming into Spring and I don't believe we have been seeing any problems with Nosema so far. If this season is anything to go by, most beekeepers are complaining of a poor honey production but so far (still a long way to go yet) I think we will still do OK. I will continue to buy any product if I think it is a benefit to our bees health."

Steve, Commercial Beekeeper, New Zealand

"Mixed Hive Alive into syrup and did not use all of it so left several gallons forgotten in an outside shed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the syrup did not ferment after several months. Have not really evaluated bee population but I think have had almost no loss this winter. I will continue to use and recommend Hive Alive."

James, Texas, USA USA

"So I read about this last fall and had a newer hive that needed some help growing late in season. I added Hive Alive to sugar syrup. It was the only one I supplemented Hive Alive to. Of my 3 hives that 1 has survived a cold Ohio winter."

Kathy, Ohio, USA USA

"I used it in the autumn feed for one apiary of nine hives. I was getting poor results from this apiary over recent years with losing colonies in winter and not building up very well and consequently the yield was well below average. I suspected they were suffering from Nosema and so activated their winter feed with HiveAlive™. I inspected this apiary recently and was pleasantly surprised to they are now as good as the general run of colonies. I will now be adding the HiveAlive™ product to my autumn feed. Spring 2012...

... to update you on the weak apiary that I treated with HiveAlive™ last year. It yielded 36% more honey than my overall average yield this year. Impressive, especially given the fact that two of the hives in that apiary swarmed!!"Autumn 2012

Micheál Mac Giolla Coda, Professional Beekeeper, NatDipSc (Apic), CFL, FIBKA Honey Judge, BBKA Senior Honey Judge and Chairman of the Galtee Bee Breeding Group, Ireland

"I had a number of apideas full of Chalkbrood. Shortly after feeding syrup with HiveAlive it disappeared. I plan to add HiveAlive to all my hives this year."

John Summerville, Professional Beekeeper and winner of prizes at the Irish and UK National shows.

"I have had three failing hives this summer. I followed your directions for spraying them which I repeated three times the last being approx 4-5 weeks ago. What a difference; whole frames full of capped brood and much more active. HiveAlive™ has certainly sorted them out. In one hive they appear to have superseded their queen. I will be ordering another bottle to enable me to feed all my hives going in to the winter as per the directions".

Chris Tomlins, Beekeeper & President of the Guernsey Beekeepers' Association, UK

"In 2009 I detected the first symptoms of CCD, I used Fumagilin but the colonies’ health deteriorated and honey production was at its lowest. I used HiveAlive™ in the fall and in the spring. After use more hives are surviving, the colonies are stronger and there are more workers per colony. HiveAlive^TM is definitely beneficial."

José María Tirado, Beekeeper, Madrigal de la Vera, Cáceres, Spain

"Every one of my 300 hives survived the winter. I am extremely impressed with HiveAlive™ and will continue to use it for all my hives."

P. Little, Professional Beekeeper, UK

"This is brilliant stuff!
When it came to make up and put on supers towards the end of May I found that I was caught for good quality fresh foundation. So I had to do with old dried up foundation and was worried about the bees drawing it out.

The brainwave: leftover HiveAlive and syrup mix would be useful. I 'borrowed' the basting brush from the kitchen, went to the shed and basted on HiveAlive to the year old (maybe two year old) super frames of foundation. I quickly transported them to the apiaries, put the supers over the brood boxes and left. I returned after ten days, and hey presto, the supers in every hive were almost fully drawn with comb. Was it a case of the bees being spurred into creation of storage for the new brood or paying back for feeding this wonderful treatment?"

Eoghan O' Riordan, Beekeeper & President of the Tribes Association, Ireland

“In our Maltese study beekeepers found HiveAlive™ to be positive for overall hive health and for the preservation of syrup. We have also noticed that HiveAlive™ has improved queen acceptance in some nucs and that syrup and patties enriched with HiveAlive™ were consumed quicker than the controls.”

Melvin Magri, Beekeeper & Apicultural Expert, Malta

"I started using HiveAlive™after I lost some of my densely populated hives. My colonies were weakening so following a workshop organised by the Association of Beekeepers of Gerona, Dr. Garrido encouraged me to try HiveAlive^TM. I used HiveAlive™ in October and February and I must say that there has been a dramatic improvement in population abundance, behaviour (very little hives have swarmed!) and spring yields. So far the outcome after using HiveAlive™is positive."

Commercial Beekeeper, Celtrá, Girona, Spain

"I just started using HiveAlive this summer for my hives that have been hit hard by varroa and deformed wing virus. They had chalkbrood and the brood pattern was not as consistent as it had been. I noticed after two weeks of HiveAlive that the brood is more consistent and the bees seem to be building up better. I tell all my other beekeeper friends that it seems to be working and it could be the answer to reducing or eliminating chemical controls"

D. Kosisky, Beekeeper, Maryland, USA

"I have used HiveAlive for the past five years now with excellent results. This year, I have overwintered 14 hives and nucs successfully and know that it was down to the autumn feed with HiveAlive that got them through."

Pat Mawby, Beekeeper, UK

"Honeybees are living in a world that is becoming increasingly alien to them. Environmental pollution in all its forms, honeybee pests and hard chemicals used to control them, and monoculture of crops, can each adversely affect the very fine balance of the micro fauna and flora within the bee's gut which enables it to thrive. It gives me great pleasure therefore to see another natural product on the market which promises to have nutritional as well as curative properties for the bees under our care."

John Phipps. Editor - The Beekeepers Quarterly, UK

"I used HiveAlive™ on all my hives last Autumn. The bees that were previously aggressive calmed down and became a pleasure to work with. The syrup did not show any sign of mould – which is a first for me. The colonies were strong in the spring and for the first time in my seven years of bee keeping we have a wonderful honey crop. HiveAlive is a good and effective product – definitely worth the investment."

Steve Irish, Apiary Manager of the Southampton & District Beekeepers' Association, UK

"We have recommended your "Hivealive" because some beekeepers in our union have had good experiences with your product. In my case, I found in the 2012 beekeeping season all symptoms of Nosemosis in one of my hives. After having read various documents praising the good results of thymol and polyphenols, I tried your product.

- At the end of the 2012 season, before wintering, I stimulated the hive every two days for two weeks with 200 ml light syrup containing your product in the concentrations indicated on the packaging.

- At the end of winter, I carried out the same treatment for two weeks. During the beekeeping year 2013 there remained very few signs of illness and in no way resembled the unhealthy state it was in last year.

- At the end of 2013 season and early season 2014 I again carried out the same treatment.

The queen, who is now 3 years old, is thriving and the hive is in excellent shape with no sign of this disease, and this after 4 treatments with "HiveAlive" spread over 3 seasons. As you can see I can only be satisfied with your product. Other beekeepers have achieved good results as well."

Maurice Feltin, Beekeeper of the Enchenberg Apiary School, France