The multiline concept was tested for bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Uganda for over-compensatory effects on yield and stability of yield. Three multilines were formed, each with four components having similar seed type: red, small-tan or Calima seed types. The entries were evaluated in 14 environments. Over-compensation for yield occurred with the Calima multiline, but only in two high-yield environments. Yields of the other multilines did not differ from the means of their components although the red-seed multiline was significantly more stable for yield than its components and the small-tan-seed multiline was more stable than two of its components. Environmental and genotype-by-environment interaction effects were significant for cooking time, but variation was primarily due to genotypic effects. The results demonstrated advantages of multilines while no disadvantages were found, and indicate release of multilines is a potentially useful strategy, especially if multilines can be further improved by testing for compatibility of components. The results also demonstrate the importance of considering variation in cooking time, implying that long-cooking lines be excluded from multilines.