[Meggie]

    I have a small pear tree at the top of my plot which has been there for some years.  The first year I was there I had a reasonable amount of fruit from it so I looked it up on the internet, how to prune etc and carefully gave it a mild pruning at the beginning of last year.  Last Summer I had so many lovely pears from it, I couldn't quite believe it.  Well this year, due to circumstances, I couldn't get to the allotment for the first bit of the year so it didn't get pruned but it also didn't really need it - no crossed branches, or dead ones etc and it looks quite healthy with the leaves being a lovely glossy colour and loads of blossom earlier on.  Lots of little fruits started to appear and I thought, a couple of weeks ago, it would be another good year.  However, this week most of the little fruits have either disappeared or dried up and gone black.  Now it looks as though I won't get any fruit at all, or at the most very little.  Has anyone any ideas as to what the cause of this is?

[mumofstig]

The cold weather wouldn't have helped, it has not been reliably warm during the day, and we've had cold night and cold winds as well.....  and I don't know what your weather has been like but they hate dry soil.

[Loubs]

I've had same with my dwarf nectarine. Plenty of blossom, but no sign of any fruit.

Have been away for a week, and all my gooseberries avaporated into thin air  - though think I can blame the magpies finding a route into my netting which'd blown slightly askew.

Either way - will be a year lacking in any fruit for me. 

[paintedlady]

June drop is the time of year when all those unfertilized fruitlets drop off and is also nature's way of thinning out so that remaining fruit can grow healthily.  Pears and peaches flower much earlier in the year than say apples and are very much tied to the weather.  If it is too cold, the bees won't emerge in time to pollinate, or the rains comes just as the blossom are out.  This spring has been exceptionally cold so is the most likely cause of lack of fruit on trees 

[willowman]

I too have lost most of my pears, they have gone black and shrivelled.

Dr Hessayon says this is the Pear Midge. If you pick a black fruit and split it open you will find little (well, they would be) maggots.

He says you should remove the affected fruit and burn them, and keep the area under the tree well cultivated.

Hope this helps.