When Are Honeybells In Season?

Have you heard? Honeybells are here!

In case you aren’t aware, this really is a cause for celebration. Developed in the warm and sunny climate and rich soil of Florida’s Indian River region, Honeybells are a hybrid orange with a unique bell shape and a sparkling flavor that’s just the right balance of tangy and sweet. A cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine, Honeybells have bright, red-orange skins that are easy to peel and few to no seeds. They’re loaded with honey-sweet juice – this, along with the unusual knob on their stem end, gives them their name. They’re a perfect size for snacking and make a delicious addition to any fruit salad or juice.

Like all citrus fruits, Honeybells are low in calories and free of fat, cholesterol and sodium. Packed with vitamin C and excellent sources of dietary fiber and calcium, they’re a sweet, satisfying treat you can feel good about.

Hale Honeybells: A Premium Citrus Treat

You might be wondering why, if Honeybells are so great, they can be hard to find?

For one thing, Honeybell season is, sadly, rather short (more on that in a bit). For another, the crop is small because the trees are high maintenance (thriving only in parts of Florida and some parts of the West Coast) and the fruit itself is rather delicate. It’s because of these last considerations that you should order your Honeybells form Hale Groves to ensure you get the highest quality, sweetest, juiciest and most refreshing fruit available.

Hale Honeybells are a special treat citrus fans look forward to all year long. That’s because we source our fruit from farms located in ideal growing conditions, with just the right soil, light and temperatures for producing the best Honeybells. Our farmers also pamper their trees, providing them with plenty of TLC in terms watering, feeding and pruning.

Despite the shortness of the Honeybell season, we still won’t rush it – we at Hale Groves know that the best citrus is harvested at peak season from mature trees, and while conventional fruit sellers will grab whatever fruit is available and put it out for sale as soon as it arrives, we feel quality is worth waiting for – even at the expense of a smaller crop.

Hale Groves is also super careful when it comes to quality. Honeybells can’t be picked – they’re far too delicate for that. Once the fruit is fully ripened, we carefully clip it from the tree, then inspect it for size and quality to ensure it’s worthy of our customers. If it doesn’t meet our rigorous standards, it won’t make the cut.

Extending the Season with Honeybell Varieties

As word has spread about this exquisite citrus treat their demand for them has grown. This has made Honeybells even harder to get, for in addition to the smallness of their crop, their season tends to be short (and sweet, but that goes without saying).

As a general rule, Honeybell season is from mid-December to mid-February, with January being the peak season. The development of new Honeybell varieties, however, has helped to extend Honeybell season into the springtime, helping the mouthwatering citrus fruit last longer than just a few weeks.

You can now find three premium Honeybell varieties at Hale Groves:

• Hale Honeybells. The original, incomparable bestseller with nearly 2,000 rave reviews from our customers. Hale Groves’ exclusive spring variety is busting with juicy and tangy-sweet flavor. Order now and see what everyone’s talking about!
• Hale Golden Honeybells. Perfect for those who just can’t wait for Honeybell season to begin, our Golden Honeybells are ready earlier and carry the same sweet taste in a golden-toned package. Larger than Hale’s classic variety (all the better to satisfy your appetite!), Golden Honeybells share the original’s distinctive shape, but their peel is bumpier (rather like a gold nugget).
• Mini Honeybells. Miniature versions of the Hale classic, our Mini Honeybells pack all the flavor of a Hale Honeybell into a palm-sized package that’s perfect for a light snack, a boost of energy on a hike or in a child’s lunchbox. They may not always look like Honeybells (Minis don’t always develop into the bell shape), they’re Honeybells all right – easy to peel, oh-so-juicy, and with that classic tangy-sweet flavor our customers have come to love.

Try one or all three of our Honeybell varieties alone or together with other premium fruits and gourmet sweets and treats (our gift baskets and boxes containing Honeybells make wonderful gifts for just about any occasion). But no matter how you choose to try them, just make sure you try them ASAP…if you wait any longer, you may have to wait until next season!

Shop all Hale Honeybell varieties plus Honeybell Gift Boxes & Baskets!>>