The paper contains the results of research to determine those areas of the bean pod which are most susceptible to cracking. Measurements were taken on pods of five bean cultivars grown for dry seeds, at five levels of moisture content. The 'abdominal' seam near the pod end and in the middle section and the dorsal seam near the stalk and near the pod end were the bean-pod areas most resistant to cracking for all cultivars tested. In the case of the Aura, Bor, Igołomska and Prosna cultivars, the abdominal seam near the stalk side cracked most often, whereas the pods of the Nida cultivar cracked most often in the middle of their dorsal seam. The moisture content had a significant effect on the location of the cra- cking in the bean pod. In all cultivars tested, the increased moisture content caused a drop in the frequency of the complete splitting of the abdominal seam and the splitting of the abdominal seam in the middle of the pod and the increased frequency of the cracking of the abdominal seam near the stalk end for the Aura, Nida and Prosna cultivars, as well as that of the dorsal seam near the pod end in the Aura, Bor and Igołomska cultivars.