Runner beans

Quite a few of mine have done this too, I have a suspicion that it might be to do with lack of water, (or bees!), even though I have tried to water them as much as I am able to.

I find that the first flowers often fail to set - my completely unscientific theory is that bees take time to find the flowers and/or work out how to pollinate them (the bee needs to stand on the keel of the flower to 'trip' them - bumble bees are heavier and therefore more effective than honey bees, although there is a type of short-tongued bee which takes a short cut to the nectar and pollen by chewing through the rear of the flower, which then doesn't set. )

There isn't a great deal you can do about it in reality - as Mum has already mentioned, they must be kept well watered, bee-friendly flowers in the immediate vicinity can help, and growing your beans in a fairly sheltered spot should increase the number of bee visits.

I've had sparrows pecking off both the growing tips and flowers in the past, and apart from last year when there were few sparrows about, I've had to resort to draping netting over the sloping part of my Munty frame to try to put them off. Tell-tale signs are flowers lying on the ground before they've even opened.

Don't worry yet - sparrows apart, they'll probably come good in the end. 

Thanks for all your replies,lets hope it comes good in the end.

Thank you very much Victoria for that info. "Moonlight" runner/french bean seeds has just gone onto my shopping list for next year. What are your F1 brussels named please. arh.
ps. in fact, looking at my list for next year, the only "same seeds" as for this year, are Sturon onions and White Gem parsnips, that's progress. A perfect little, (not so little), goldmine this website, and the onions are seeds and not sets.

Thank you very much Hun, on the list goes Maximus F1.

My brussels are Maximus F1 from Dobies.  Very reliable, and they produce early if planted early but also hold well for a long time.  Twelve plants see me picking plenty  for about 4 months, as I harvest as the plants grow and work my way up the stalks. I tend to dual run new varieties with old ones for one year just to be on the safe side before I ditch them.
Firestorm are another self pollinating runner/french hybrid but I haven't tried those.

I tried Firestorm last year.  The yield was quite impressive but I wasn't so keen on the taste compared to others I have grown (The Czar; Prizewinner; Painted Lady).

Their other drawback is that as a hybrid you can't save the seed.