diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 9096f083c..9ed525052 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ end
 
 gem "actionpack-action_caching", "~> 1.2"
 gem "active_record_union", "~> 1.3"
-gem "acts-as-taggable-on", "~> 6.0"
 gem "acts_as_follower", github: "thepracticaldev/acts_as_follower", branch: "master"
+gem "acts-as-taggable-on", "~> 6.0"
 gem "addressable", "~> 2.5", ">= 2.5.2"
 gem "administrate", "~> 0.11"
 gem "ahoy_email", "~> 0.5"
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ gem "aws-sdk-lambda", "~> 1.16" # Just Lambda. For more, install aws-sdk gem
 gem "bootsnap", ">= 1.1.0", require: false
 gem "bourbon", "~> 5.1"
 gem "buffer", "~> 0.1"
-gem "carrierwave", "~> 1.3"
 gem "carrierwave-bombshelter", "~> 0.2"
+gem "carrierwave", "~> 1.3"
 gem "cloudinary", "~> 1.11"
 gem "counter_culture", "~> 2.1"
 gem "csv_shaper", "~> 1.3"
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ gem "dry-struct", "~> 0.6"
 gem "email_validator", "~> 2.0"
 gem "emoji_regex", "~> 1.0"
 gem "envied", "~> 0.9"
-gem "fastly", "~> 1.15"
 gem "fastly-rails", "~> 0.8"
+gem "fastly", "~> 1.15"
 gem "feedjira", "~> 2.2"
 gem "figaro", "~> 1.1"
 gem "fog", "~> 1.41"
@@ -51,32 +51,31 @@ gem "front_matter_parser", "~> 0.2"
 gem "gemoji", "~> 3.0.0"
 gem "gibbon", "~> 3.2"
 gem "google-api-client", "~> 0.27"
-gem "honeycomb-rails"
+gem 'honeycomb-beeline', "~> 0.7.0"
 gem "html_truncator", "~> 0.4"
 gem "httparty", "~> 0.16"
 gem "inline_svg", "~> 1.3"
 gem "jbuilder", "~> 2.8"
 gem "jquery-rails", "~> 4.3"
 gem "kaminari", "~> 1.1"
-gem "libhoney", "~> 1.12"
 gem "liquid", "~> 4.0"
 gem "nokogiri", "~> 1.10"
 gem "octokit", "~> 4.13"
-gem "omniauth", "~> 1.9"
 gem "omniauth-github", "~> 1.3"
 gem "omniauth-twitter", "~> 1.4"
+gem "omniauth", "~> 1.9"
 gem "pg", "~> 1.1"
-gem "pry", "~> 0.12"
 gem "pry-rails", "~> 0.3"
+gem "pry", "~> 0.12"
 gem "puma", "~> 3.12"
 gem "pundit", "~> 2.0"
-gem "pusher", "~> 1.3"
 gem "pusher-push-notifications", "~> 1.0"
+gem "pusher", "~> 1.3"
 gem "rack-host-redirect", "~> 1.3"
 gem "rack-timeout", "~> 0.5"
-gem "rails", "~> 5.2", ">= 5.2.3"
 gem "rails-assets-airbrake-js-client", "~> 1.5", source: "https://rails-assets.org"
 gem "rails-observers", "~> 0.1"
+gem "rails", "~> 5.2", ">= 5.2.3"
 gem "recaptcha", "~> 4.13", require: "recaptcha/rails"
 gem "redcarpet", "~> 3.4"
 gem "reverse_markdown", "~> 1.1"
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index ddf0f2ee7..0e2c6bc68 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ GEM
       activemodel (= 5.2.3)
       activesupport (= 5.2.3)
       arel (>= 9.0)
+    activerecord-honeycomb (0.4.0)
+      libhoney
     activestorage (5.2.3)
       actionpack (= 5.2.3)
       activerecord (= 5.2.3)
@@ -330,6 +332,8 @@ GEM
       i18n (>= 0.7)
     faraday (0.15.4)
       multipart-post (>= 1.2, < 3)
+    faraday-honeycomb (0.3.1)
+      libhoney (>= 1.5.0)
     faraday_middleware (0.13.1)
       faraday (>= 0.7.4, < 1.0)
     fastimage (2.1.1)
@@ -544,9 +548,11 @@ GEM
     hashie (3.6.0)
     heapy (0.1.4)
     hkdf (0.3.0)
-    honeycomb-rails (0.8.1)
-      libhoney (>= 1.9)
-      rails (>= 3.0.0)
+    honeycomb-beeline (0.7.0)
+      activerecord-honeycomb (>= 0.4.0)
+      faraday-honeycomb (>= 0.3.0)
+      libhoney (>= 1.8.1)
+      rack-honeycomb (>= 0.4.0)
     html_tokenizer (0.0.7)
     html_truncator (0.4.2)
       nokogiri (~> 1.5)
@@ -705,6 +711,8 @@ GEM
     pusher-signature (0.1.8)
     raabro (1.1.6)
     rack (2.0.6)
+    rack-honeycomb (0.5.0)
+      libhoney (>= 1.5.0)
     rack-host-redirect (1.3.0)
       rack
     rack-protection (2.0.5)
@@ -1033,7 +1041,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   guard (~> 2.15)
   guard-livereload (~> 2.5)
   guard-rspec (~> 4.7)
-  honeycomb-rails
+  honeycomb-beeline (~> 0.7.0)
   html_truncator (~> 0.4)
   httparty (~> 0.16)
   inline_svg (~> 1.3)
@@ -1041,7 +1049,6 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   jquery-rails (~> 4.3)
   kaminari (~> 1.1)
   launchy (~> 2.4)
-  libhoney (~> 1.12)
   liquid (~> 4.0)
   memory_profiler (~> 0.9)
   nakayoshi_fork
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 334e3f68a..20a5048f7 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -78,9 +78,4 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   def touch_current_user
     current_user.touch
   end
-
-  def append_info_to_payload(payload)
-    super(payload)
-    append_to_honeycomb(request, self.class.name)
-  end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/rss_reader.rb b/app/services/rss_reader.rb
index abc6840b1..41298fb9b 100644
--- a/app/services/rss_reader.rb
+++ b/app/services/rss_reader.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-require "nokogiri"
-require "httparty"
-require "securerandom"
-
 class RssReader
   def self.get_all_articles(force = true)
     new.get_all_articles(force)
@@ -13,15 +9,18 @@ class RssReader
 
   def get_all_articles(force = true)
     User.where.not(feed_url: [nil, ""]).find_each do |user|
-      next if force == false && (rand(2) == 1 || user.feed_fetched_at > 15.minutes.ago) # Don't fetch every time.
+      # unless forced, fetch sparingly
+      next if force == false && (rand(2) == 1 || user.feed_fetched_at > 15.minutes.ago)
 
       create_articles_for_user(user)
     end
   end
 
   def fetch_user(user)
-    Thread.current[:request_id] = @request_id
-    Thread.current[:span_id] = @request_id
+    # add request_id to thread current variables to aid Honeycomb instrumentation
+    Thread.current[:request_id] = request_id
+    Thread.current[:span_id] = request_id
+
     create_articles_for_user(user)
   end
 
@@ -33,26 +32,34 @@ class RssReader
 
   private
 
+  attr_reader :request_id
+
   def create_articles_for_user(user)
     with_span("create_articles_for_user", user_id: user.id, username: user.username) do |metadata|
       user.update_column(:feed_fetched_at, Time.current)
       feed = fetch_rss(user.feed_url.strip)
+
       metadata[:feed_length] = feed.entries.length if feed&.entries
+
       feed.entries.reverse_each do |item|
         make_from_rss_item(item, user, feed)
       rescue StandardError => e
-        log_error("RssReaderError: occurred while creating article for",
-                    user: user.username,
-                    feed_url: user.feed_url,
-                    item_count: get_item_count_error(feed),
-                    error: e)
+        log_error(
+          "RssReaderError: occurred while creating article",
+          user: user.username,
+          feed_url: user.feed_url,
+          item_count: get_item_count_error(feed),
+          error: e,
+        )
       end
     rescue StandardError => e
-      log_error("RssReaderError: occurred while fetch feed for",
-                  user: user.username,
-                  feed_url: user.feed_url,
-                  item_count: get_item_count_error(feed),
-                  error: e)
+      log_error(
+        "RssReaderError: occurred while fetching feed",
+        user: user.username,
+        feed_url: user.feed_url,
+        item_count: get_item_count_error(feed),
+        error: e,
+      )
     end
   end
 
@@ -76,33 +83,29 @@ class RssReader
   end
 
   def make_from_rss_item(item, user, feed)
-    with_span("make_from_rss_item",
-                item_id: item.entry_id,
-                item_title: item.title,
-                item_summary_size: item.summary&.size) do |metadata|
-      return if medium_reply?(item) || article_exist?(user, item)
+    with_span(
+      "make_from_rss_item",
+      item_id: item.entry_id,
+      item_title: item.title,
+      item_summary_size: item.summary&.size,
+    ) do |metadata|
+
+      return if medium_reply?(item) || article_exists?(user, item)
 
-      article_params = {
-        feed_source_url: feed_source_url = item.url.strip.split("?source=")[0],
-        user_id: user.id,
-        published_at: item.published,
-        published_from_feed: true,
-        show_comments: true,
-        # body_markdown: assemble_body_markdown(item, user, feed, feed_source_url),
-        body_markdown: RssReader::Assembler.call(item, user, feed, feed_source_url),
-        organization_id: user.organization_id.presence
-      }
       article = with_timer("save_article", metadata) do
-        Article.create!(article_params)
+        feed_source_url = item.url.strip.split("?source=")[0]
+        Article.create!(
+          feed_source_url: feed_source_url,
+          user_id: user.id,
+          published_at: item.published,
+          published_from_feed: true,
+          show_comments: true,
+          body_markdown: RssReader::Assembler.call(item, user, feed, feed_source_url),
+          organization_id: user.organization_id.presence,
+        )
       end
-      return unless Rails.env.production?
 
-      SlackBot.delay.ping(
-        "New Article Retrieved via RSS: #{article.title}\nhttps://dev.to#{article.path}",
-        channel: "activity",
-        username: "article_bot",
-        icon_emoji: ":robot_face:",
-      )
+      send_slack_notification(article)
     end
   end
 
@@ -125,27 +128,46 @@ class RssReader
     content.include?(title)
   end
 
-  def article_exist?(user, item)
-    user.articles.find_by("title = ? OR feed_source_url = ?", item.title.strip.gsub('"', '\"'), item.url.strip.split("?source=")[0])
+  def article_exists?(user, item)
+    title = item.title.strip.gsub('"', '\"')
+    feed_source_url = item.url.strip.split("?source=")[0]
+    relation = user.articles
+    relation.where(title: title).or(relation.where(feed_source_url: feed_source_url)).exists?
+  end
+
+  def send_slack_notification(article)
+    return unless Rails.env.production?
+
+    SlackBot.delay.ping(
+      "New Article Retrieved via RSS: #{article.title}\nhttps://dev.to#{article.path}",
+      channel: "activity",
+      username: "article_bot",
+      icon_emoji: ":robot_face:",
+    )
   end
 
   def log_error(error_msg, metadata)
-    logger = Logger.new(STDOUT)
-    parts = metadata.map { |k, v| [k.upcase.to_s.sub(/_/, "-"), v].join(": ") }
-    parts = parts.unshift(error_msg)
-    logger.info(parts.join(" "))
+    # giving the error message a resemblance of structured logging
+    parts = metadata.map { |k, v| [k, v].join("=") }
+    parts = parts.unshift("#{error_msg}:")
+    Rails.logger.error(parts.join(" "))
+
+    # log error to Honeycomb if initialized
+    return unless Honeycomb.client
 
-    # log error to Honeycomb
     ev = Honeycomb.client.event
     ev.add(metadata)
     ev.add_field("error_msg", error_msg)
-    ev.add_field("trace.trace_id", @request_id)
-    parent_id = Thread.current[:span_id] || @request_id
-    ev.add_field("trace.parent_id", parent_id)
+    ev.add_field("trace.trace_id", request_id)
+    ev.add_field("trace.parent_id", Thread.current[:span_id] || request_id)
     ev.add_field("trace.span_id", SecureRandom.uuid)
     ev.send
   end
 
+  # NOTE: honeycomb-beeline makes "with_span" theoretically obsolete,
+  # unfortunately there's a bug that prevents the gem to add fields after a
+  # a span has been initiated, so for now we'll keep this code in.
+  # see <https://github.com/honeycombio/beeline-ruby/issues/8>
   # This wrapper takes a span name, some optional metadata, and a block; then
   # emits a "span" to Honeycomb as part of the trace begun in the RequestTracer
   # middleware.
@@ -155,13 +177,13 @@ class RssReader
   # into the block.
   def with_span(name, metadata = nil)
     trace_id = Thread.current[:request_id]
-    return yield({}) unless trace_id
+    return yield({}) unless trace_id && Honeycomb.client
 
-    id = SecureRandom.uuid
-    start = Time.new
+    current_span_id = SecureRandom.uuid
+    start = Time.current
     data = {
       name: name,
-      "trace.span_id": id,
+      "trace.span_id": current_span_id,
       "trace.trace_id": trace_id,
       service_name: "rss_reader"
     }
@@ -172,10 +194,10 @@ class RssReader
 
     # Set the current span ID before invoking the provided block, then capture
     # the return value to return after emitting the Honeycomb event.
-    Thread.current[:span_id] = id
+    Thread.current[:span_id] = span_id
     ret = yield data
 
-    data[:duration_ms] = (Time.new - start) * 1000
+    data[:duration_ms] = (Time.current - start) * 1000
     data.merge!(metadata) if metadata
 
     # log event to Honeycomb
@@ -190,10 +212,9 @@ class RssReader
   end
 
   def with_timer(name, data)
-    start = Time.new
+    start = Time.current
     ret = yield
-    data[name + "_dur_ms"] = (Time.new - start) * 1000 if data
-
+    data[name + "_dur_ms"] = (Time.current - start) * 1000 if data
     ret
   end
 end
diff --git a/config.ru b/config.ru
index 193e5fed8..eee1402bf 100644
--- a/config.ru
+++ b/config.ru
@@ -1,4 +1,14 @@
 # This file is used by Rack-based servers to start the application.
 
+# Honeycomb must be initialized before the Rails app starts
+# see <https://docs.honeycomb.io/getting-data-in/ruby/beeline/> for details
+require "honeycomb-beeline"
+Honeycomb.init(
+  writekey: ENV["HONEYCOMB_API_KEY"],
+  # NOTE: dataset should probably be set using "HONEYCOMB_DATASET" env,
+  # to avoid hardcoding "dev.to" as a name
+  dataset: "dev.to-#{ENV['RAILS_ENV']}",
+)
+
 require ::File.expand_path("../config/environment", __FILE__)
 run Rails.application
diff --git a/config/initializers/honeycomb.rb b/config/initializers/honeycomb.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index bdda956c8..000000000
--- a/config/initializers/honeycomb.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-require "libhoney"
-
-module Honeycomb
-  class << self
-    attr_accessor :client
-  end
-end
-
-key = ApplicationConfig["HONEYCOMB_API_KEY"]
-dataset = "dev.to-#{Rails.env}"
-
-Honeycomb.client = if Rails.env.development? || Rails.env.test?
-                     Libhoney::NullClient.new
-                   else
-                     Libhoney::Client.new(
-                       writekey: key,
-                       dataset: dataset,
-                       user_agent_addition: HoneycombRails::USER_AGENT_SUFFIX,
-                     )
-                   end
-
-HoneycombRails.configure do |conf|
-  conf.writekey = key
-  conf.dataset = dataset
-  conf.db_dataset = "dev.to-db-#{Rails.env}"
-  conf.client = Honeycomb.client
-end
diff --git a/config/initializers/shutdown.rb b/config/initializers/shutdown.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..59c0d78aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/shutdown.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# adding an exit hook to properly shutdown/close third party clients
+at_exit do
+  Honeycomb.shutdown if defined?(Honeycomb) && Honeycomb.respond_to?(:shutdown)
+end
diff --git a/lib/instrumentation.rb b/lib/instrumentation.rb
index b43c9d793..a433e77d4 100644
--- a/lib/instrumentation.rb
+++ b/lib/instrumentation.rb
@@ -1,22 +1,26 @@
+require "rack/honeycomb/middleware"
+
 module Instrumentation
+  def self.included(base)
+    base.before_action :add_user_info_to_honeycomb_event
+  end
+
   def add_param_context(*keys)
     keys.each do |key|
-      honeycomb_metadata[key] = params[key]
+      Rack::Honeycomb.add_field(request.env, key, params[key])
     end
   end
 
   def add_context(metadata)
     metadata.each do |key, value|
-      honeycomb_metadata[key] = value
+      Rack::Honeycomb.add_field(request.env, key, value)
     end
   end
 
-  def append_to_honeycomb(request, controller_name)
-    return if honeycomb_metadata.nil?
+  def add_user_info_to_honeycomb_event
+    return unless current_user
 
-    honeycomb_metadata["trace.trace_id"] = request.request_id
-    honeycomb_metadata["trace.span_id"] = request.request_id
-    honeycomb_metadata[:service_name] = "rails"
-    honeycomb_metadata[:name] = controller_name
+    Rack::Honeycomb.add_field(request.env, "user.id", current_user.id)
+    Rack::Honeycomb.add_field(request.env, "user.username", current_user.username)
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/approvals/rssreader/get_all_articles/gets_articles_for_user.approved.txt b/spec/fixtures/approvals/rssreader/fetch_user/gets_articles_for_user.approved.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from spec/fixtures/approvals/rssreader/get_all_articles/gets_articles_for_user.approved.txt
rename to spec/fixtures/approvals/rssreader/fetch_user/gets_articles_for_user.approved.txt
diff --git a/spec/services/rss_reader_spec.rb b/spec/services/rss_reader_spec.rb
index de9f40ca8..c6cb6ffae 100644
--- a/spec/services/rss_reader_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/rss_reader_spec.rb
@@ -6,12 +6,36 @@ vcr_option = {
   allow_playback_repeats: "true"
 }
 
+class HoneycombEventStub
+  attr_reader :data
+
+  def initialize
+    @data = {}
+  end
+
+  def add(metadata)
+    @data.merge!(metadata)
+  end
+
+  def add_field(key, value)
+    @data[key] = value
+  end
+end
+
 RSpec.describe RssReader, vcr: vcr_option do
   let(:link) { "https://medium.com/feed/@vaidehijoshi" }
   let(:nonmedium_link) { "https://circleci.com/blog/feed.xml" }
   let(:nonpermanent_link) { "https://medium.com/feed/@macsiri/" }
   let(:rss_data) { RSS::Parser.parse(HTTParty.get(link).body, false) }
 
+  before do
+    # Honeycomb.init has too many side effects during testing, so we mock the client
+    event = HoneycombEventStub.new
+    allow(event).to receive(:send)
+    client_double = instance_double("Libhoney::TestClient", event: event, events: [event])
+    allow(Honeycomb).to receive(:client) { client_double }
+  end
+
   describe "#get_all_articles" do
     before do
       [link, nonmedium_link, nonpermanent_link].each do |feed_url|
@@ -43,17 +67,41 @@ RSpec.describe RssReader, vcr: vcr_option do
       expect(User.find_by(feed_url: nonpermanent_link).feed_fetched_at).to be > 2.minutes.ago
     end
 
-    it "does not refetch same user over and over" do
+    it "does refetch same user over and over by default" do
       user = User.find_by(feed_url: nonpermanent_link)
-      user.update_column(:feed_fetched_at, Time.current)
-      fetched_at_time = user.feed_fetched_at
-      sleep(1)
-      described_class.new.get_all_articles
-      described_class.new.get_all_articles
-      described_class.new.get_all_articles
-      described_class.new.get_all_articles
-      described_class.new.get_all_articles
-      expect(user.feed_fetched_at).to eq(fetched_at_time)
+      Timecop.freeze(Time.current) do
+        user.update_column(:feed_fetched_at, Time.current)
+        fetched_at_time = user.reload.feed_fetched_at
+        # travel a few seconds in the future to simulate a new time
+        3.times do |i|
+          Timecop.travel((i + 5).seconds.from_now) { described_class.new.get_all_articles }
+        end
+        expect(user.reload.feed_fetched_at > fetched_at_time).to be(true)
+      end
+    end
+
+    it "logs an article creation error" do
+      reader = described_class.new
+      allow(reader).to receive(:make_from_rss_item).and_raise(StandardError)
+      allow(Rails.logger).to receive(:error)
+      reader.get_all_articles
+      expect(Rails.logger).to have_received(:error).at_least(:once)
+    end
+
+    it "logs a fetching error" do
+      reader = described_class.new
+      allow(reader).to receive(:fetch_rss).and_raise(StandardError)
+      allow(Rails.logger).to receive(:error)
+      reader.get_all_articles
+      expect(Rails.logger).to have_received(:error).at_least(:once)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "#fetch_user" do
+    before do
+      [link, nonmedium_link, nonpermanent_link].each do |feed_url|
+        create(:user, feed_url: feed_url)
+      end
     end
 
     it "gets articles for user" do
@@ -66,6 +114,46 @@ RSpec.describe RssReader, vcr: vcr_option do
       described_class.new.fetch_user(User.first)
       expect(Article.all.map(&:featured_number).uniq).to eq([nil])
     end
+
+    it "logs an article creation error on the standard logger" do
+      reader = described_class.new
+      allow(reader).to receive(:make_from_rss_item).and_raise(StandardError)
+      allow(Rails.logger).to receive(:error)
+      reader.fetch_user(User.first)
+      expect(Rails.logger).to have_received(:error).at_least(:once)
+    end
+
+    it "logs an article creation error on the observability tool" do
+      reader = described_class.new
+      allow(reader).to receive(:make_from_rss_item).and_raise(StandardError)
+      reader.fetch_user(User.first)
+
+      expected_observable_fields = [
+        :user, :feed_url, :item_count, :error,
+        "error_msg", "trace.trace_id", "trace.parent_id", "trace.span_id"
+      ]
+      expect(Honeycomb.client.events.first.data.keys).to eq(expected_observable_fields)
+    end
+
+    it "logs a fetching error on the standard logger" do
+      reader = described_class.new
+      allow(reader).to receive(:fetch_rss).and_raise(StandardError)
+      allow(Rails.logger).to receive(:error)
+      reader.fetch_user(User.first)
+      expect(Rails.logger).to have_received(:error).at_least(:once)
+    end
+
+    it "logs a fetching error on the observability tool" do
+      reader = described_class.new
+      allow(reader).to receive(:fetch_rss).and_raise(StandardError)
+      reader.fetch_user(User.first)
+
+      expected_observable_fields = [
+        :user, :feed_url, :item_count, :error,
+        "error_msg", "trace.trace_id", "trace.parent_id", "trace.span_id"
+      ]
+      expect(Honeycomb.client.events.first.data.keys).to eq(expected_observable_fields)
+    end
   end
 
   describe "#valid_feed_url?" do