Peak bloom and harvest windows for 16 commercial honey varieties from tupelo and acacia to wildflower and buckwheat. Now showing: October — 1 varieties active or at peak.
Tupelo (2–3 weeks), Acacia (1–2 weeks), and Orange Blossom (3–4 weeks) have the tightest harvest calendars — and the highest prices.
Wildflower is available Apr–Sep, Eucalyptus Mar–May (CA) or year-round (AU), and Clover spans Jun–Aug across North America.
Sealed honey stored at room temperature keeps for years. Off-season months are a good time to buy; keep the jars sealed and dry.
The best time to buy fresh raw honey is shortly after harvest — typically 2–4 weeks after the bloom period ends. In the US, spring and summer offer the widest variety: orange blossom and tupelo in April, blueberry and acacia in May, clover and linden in July, sourwood and heather in August. Manuka from New Zealand is freshest in North American markets between February and April.
Tupelo honey has the shortest reliable harvest window of any major commercial variety — approximately 2 to 3 weeks in late April along the Apalachicola River in Florida. Acacia (black locust) is a close second at 1–2 weeks. These short windows drive their higher prices: beekeepers must mobilize quickly and move hives into the blossoming area at precisely the right time.
Yes, manuka honey is available for purchase year-round in most markets, but it is freshest when harvested. New Zealand manuka is harvested January–March (austral summer). Northern Hemisphere importers typically receive the new harvest by April. Year-old manuka is still safe and active, but freshly-harvested jars have the highest leptosperin and MGO levels before any degradation.
The calendar highlights varieties in active bloom or peak harvest for the current month (October). Use the "In Season Now" filter to see which varieties are at or near peak. In general, spring brings tupelo, sage, orange blossom, and early acacia; summer brings clover, linden, lavender, and wildflower; late summer brings sourwood, buckwheat, and heather.
For the freshest possible jar: identify varieties that peak in the current month or the previous 1–2 months, then look for a local producer or a jar dated to this season. Darker varieties (buckwheat, heather, chestnut) generally test higher for phenolics in lab studies than pale ones (colour vs phenolics r = 0.77 in a 2022 Polish study of 49 honeys). The lowest measured glycemic index we know of is 32, for a Romanian acacia (locust) honey in the 2002 international GI tables; acacia is a spring variety.
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Sources: Crane (1990) Bees and Beekeeping; Bogdanov et al. (2008) Am. Bee J.; Persano Oddo et al. (2004) Apidologie 35; USDA AMS Honey Reports 2020–2024; White (1979) in Honey: A Comprehensive Survey; Gheldof & Engeseth (2002) J. Agric. Food Chem. Harvest windows represent typical peak periods for major commercial-volume production regions; local conditions vary by elevation, latitude, and year.
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