On 12/08/2013 08:47, Bob Hobden wrote:

Depends on the Bumblebee, I understand some of the larger ones get the
nectar by biting into the stem of the flower instead of working their
way into it the correct way for pollination. I've only seen Bumbles on
our beans this year but we seem to have a variety of species and in
large numbers too.

We have the exact same situation. No honey bees to be seen. Plenty of
bumble bees, and I watched them on the runner beans and confirmed they
are biting into the base of the flower instead of climbing inside them!

There is a moderate rate of setting of the flowers and I have been
eating them for a fortnight, but there wont be as many to go in the
freezer as last year.

That said with the strange weather, most of the stuff in the garden is
behaving differently to normal.

Alan