Sidenote: IWK will drop young pods in the making if it gets too hot.

I just sowed some 2011 beans, to try for the first time. I hope they are not too old. I think I will be able to grow these, if they are anything like Hyacinth bean then I should be able to harvest, and save beans in the fall.

My Insuk's Wang Kong beans came up and flowered like crazy, but then they didn't do all that well because of the drought, the heat and constant winds.

However, now that we have had some rain and it's not so hot, they have revived and are flowering and forming tons of beans! We've enjoyed some meals from them already and have high hopes for a really good fall harvest!

I'll be growing these again!

Linda

My runners and limas tend to "wait" until the end of the season, when the temps cool off a bit, to start setting. In an extended Fall, I can get a great yield (but in an early Winter, nothing!)

We have such a hard time to grow beans here - because it's not hot enough for long enough - so I can hardly believe I'm reading about a bean that prefers cool temps. Or is this an illusion, where cool to you is what we would consider blazing hot? :?!?:
We do grow limas here and they are the only bean that is really a sure crop. The rest depend on getting lucky.:|

Good to know that. I grew 4 runner varieties this year, including Insuk that someone generously shared through last year's trade. However, Insuk quickly ran into seeds and did not come back even when it was cooler. Liberty Runners , from Uk, are the only ones still producing, in clusters, long tender pods that can reach 1 foot. Moonbeam was not bad. I'll give Insuk another try next year.
Runner beans tolerate colder temperature for sure, but they won't set well if too cold, just blooms then abort them.

I've grown IWK for a couple of years and I've always eaten them as shellies. The problem with that is that I only get one picking because it takes them so long to mature. If you pick them as young snaps do they keep on producing all summer?

Yes, if kept picked, IWK would keep producing snaps - provided that the temperature over that period does not get hot (see Dustdevil's ealier comments). IWK seems better able to set pods in warm conditions than most runner beans, but it still will not take as much heat as common beans. During hot spells (I know 'hot' means less here than points south), pod set may stop for awhile; but if temps dip into the 70's for a day or two, it will set a lot of pods in a short time.