Hi Slighty!
First of all, to tell male and female flowers apart: Male blossoms each have a single stamen in the centre, and the male blossoms will appear first. About a week later, the female blossoms will come, and they have a large swelling just beneath the blossom, and a four part pistil in the flower's centre.
Your cucumbers sound like they are not getting pollinated. Usually nature takes care of this with bees, but you can assist the process by picking a male flower, removing the petals, and brushing its pollen covered stamen against the stamens in the centre of the female blossom.
Blossom drop can also be caused by other environmental things like if it is too cold and wet, or where it is too dry and hot.
It can also be caused by a magnesium deficiency that can be resolved by sprinkling a little epsom salts around the base of each plant.
Hopefully some of these will help you out. Let us know how it goes, and drop back in any time!
Val
