An apple a day.

Behold! My new favorite apple. It's called the SugarBee, and I wonder if there was some apple chicanery going on. 

The SugarBee is trademarked to the Chelan Fruit Cooperative of Chelan, Washington, and yet claims that the whole thing was an accident. They have an involved story of the Little Honeybee That Could: 

One sunny spring day, a honey bee was buzzing throughout Mr. Nystrom’s orchard, collecting nectar and cross-pollinating apple blossoms along the way. The honey bee stopped at an unknown tree and collected nectar and pollen from a blossom.  As the day went on, the little honey bee passed that pollen onto a Honeycrisp tree. Little did this bee know its cross-pollination between a Honeycrisp and an unknown variety had just resulted in the beloved SugarBee® apple we know and enjoy today!

Months later, when apples of every shape and color began to grow, Mr. Nystrom discovered this all new variety of apple in his orchard! It was large and round, with bright red and yellow coloring. He took a bite…. “Yum!” The apple had a crispy firm texture and was unbelievably sugar-sweet. He was thrilled and spread word far and wide of a new delicious apple variety, which he then called B-51, commenting again and again on its sweet and crunchy nature.

Mr. Nystrom seems like an odd character, going around saying "Yum!" all the time, but it's the Pacific Northwest, where odd things happen. But did this strange cultivar just "appear" from the popular Honeycrisp, which was in development at the University of Minnesota from 1960 until 1991? Seems a little fishy.

But what is not fishy is the SugarBee. It is what they call an eating apple, like the Honeycrisp, as opposed to the cooking apple (Rome, Granny Smith) or throw-at-your-brother apple (crab apple). It is indeed quite similar to the Honeycrisp, but not so damn huge. I love Honeycrisps, but getting through one can be a chore, like eating a big grapefruit; I can start to lose interest about halfway there. The SugarBee is just the right size, about the size of a Gala apple, with sweet, refreshing flavor and a nice crunch. However it was created, good job. 

I can assure you that my reaction, however, did not include the word yum. It has been a long time since I was four years old.