This work was carried out at the Seed Analysis Laboratory and in plastic tunnels at the Plant Production Department/Agriculture and Plant Breeding Section of the State University of São Paulo (UNESP), Botucatu-SP, Brazil, with the aim to evaluate the effects of hydration-dehydration duration and cycles on the physiological quality of bean seeds, cultivar Carioca. The seeds were submitted to 6, 12 and 24 hours of one, two and three cycles of hydration. The first count evaluations indicated that the hydration/dehydration treatments were statistically superior to controls. However, soil emergence was negatively affected by the treatments, decreasing seedlings development and seed vigor.