Make Honeybells Your New Favorite Fruit

Have you tried Honeybell oranges yet? Honeybells are a delicious, juicy citrus fruit that were actually created right here in America. If you’re unfamiliar with how much flavor, juiciness, and nutritional value the sturdy yet easy to peel Honeybell packs into every delicious piece of fruit keep reading. The Honeybell is a fruit everyone deserves to know about.

How the Honeybell Came To Be

The Honeybell was first bred by farmers located in the gorgeous, sunny farmlands surrounding Orlando, Florida in the 1930s. They cross-pollinated a Duncan Grapefruit with a Fancy tangerine, possibly expecting something like a tangerine to develop. What they got instead must surely have surprised them. The result of their cross breeding experiment was the luscious Honeybell. The Honeybell orange was named for the unusual shape of the fruit which is bell shaped on one end and not perfectly round like an orange or grapefruit.

The Honeybell was originally called the Minneola tangelo, but over time the name Honeybell became more popular. The USDA research station in Orlando first released the new hybrid fruit to the general public in 1931, at the same time that much of the country was starved for fresh fruits and nutrition as a result of the Great Depression. The Honeybell grew more popular over time, reaching more and more audiences as news of its delicious taste and charming appearance began to gather new notoriety.

Today, the Honeybell is available online as part of a number of assorted fruit basket gifts and ensembles. It’s also available by itself, in gift fruit basket and gift tray collections that packed several servings of its delicious tastes into one amazing package. The Honeybell encompasses so much of what even the most casual fruit diner enjoys about fresh fruit in general and citrus fruit especially. Honeybells are amazingly juicy, with more juice inside their relatively small size than most people are ready to easily believe.

The rind of the Honeybell is very easy to peel, separating from the pulp with only minimal effort. The size of the Honeybell is also small enough to fit into a child’s hand, and in fact they can probably tear the rind off the Honeybell using only their fingers so parents needn’t worry about knives. Honeybells are a great first fruit for toddlers because they are delicious and easy to peel even with very small fingers. The Honeybell is packed with Vitamin C, protein, Calcium and fiber, making it a delicious source of nutrition.

Taste the Sunshine with Hale Groves

At Hale Groves, we believe the best gifts come from the land, not a factory. For generations, our fruit has been grown slowly under the Florida sun, picked at its peak, and delivered fresh to your door. From sweet Navel Oranges to rare Honeybells, every gift shares the simple joy of real flavor—perfect for holidays, milestones, or everyday moments worth celebrating.

Shop Now