How about slags and snails? I have lots in my garden and they have a big appetite for seedlings in spring. I already started to collect all kind of tin cans to use them as traps. Fill the can with beer and bury the can level with the ground. Chipmunks, squeals and birds could be a problem too. How about using a mesh over the seedlings?

Hi Mariana! Thanks for responding to my SOS! I do have lots of slugs but did not consider them to be doing this thing with the beans as I had planted them every year with no problems. You mentioned squirrels and chipmunks and I do have a lot of them, plus the birds, as I said. I suspect the four-legged and two-legged critters are the culprits but which ones, I guess I'll never know. I will, however, take your advice and I'll try both remedies you suggest - the beer and the nets. It will be an interesting experiment and I'll leave a small patch unprotected as a "control". (I've been watching too many science programmes on TV I think,lol.) I'll try to remember to post my results later in the year on this thread.

Take care. Hope you have a happy St. Valentine's Day!

Thanks, Kristink!

Believe me, I will be watching like a hawk! The puzzling thing for me was that although I was always able to find the cutworms that were attacking my other flowers and veggies (curled up at the base of the plants during the day) but couldn't find any at all in the bean beds, which is why I had trouble thinking that the problem actually was cutworms. Anyway, I am taking everything into consideration this year and I will be watching for cutworms, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and anything else I can think of. I am planning on putting nets down too - I simply cannot do all that work to have it all for nothing!

Thanks again for your help!

Are you sure you don't have bunnies? I had bunnies eat the little seedlings to the ground. The plants amazingly recovered only to be eaten again!