Think I found some beetles

bert873

So I think I found two beetles in my coolidor. 95% of my cigars are in cello. Do I need to be worried about these being infected? I looked through the few unwrapped ones and couldn't find any signs of damage. One of the beetles I found in a travel humidifying tube of the gel crystals. Then I looked up and saw one on the side of a plastic container.

Gray4lines

bert873:

So I think I found two beetles in my coolidor. 95% of my cigars are in cello. Do I need to be worried about these being infected? I looked through the few unwrapped ones and couldn't find any signs of damage. One of the beetles I found in a travel humidifying tube of the gel crystals. Then I looked up and saw one on the side of a plastic container.

Id try and find the cigars they came from... otherwise I might be a little concerned.

bert873

I think I found the culprits and they're the cigars I got on my honeymoon in Jamaica. What I had always thought was tobacco particles breaking off I know think is the little mess they leave behind. I looked over every cigar I had in the cooler and my other humi just in case of cross contamination and didn't see any other signs. Hopefully I caught them all.

Bob_Luken

If you haven't had those cigars from Jamaica for too long then maybe they haven't made their way into the other cigars. They can chew through cello so I would recommend very close examination for little holes in the cello. After that I'd check them all again every three or four days. Until you're confident that they have not spread. Also remember that cooler temps will slow them down and if it gets cold enough they will go dormant like in a wineador. But if you are having higher indoor temps the beetles will become more active. Heat actually speeds up their life cycle. Good luck. Hope you don't see any more.

kuzi16

id freeze the collection. 2-3 days below 0 would be best. zip loc bags for all cigars. suck out as much air as you can while sealing them. bag the humidor and put it in a chest freezer for 2-3 days. after that time pull out the humidor, re-season it and get the cigars out but keep them in the bags. once the humidor is seasoned put the cigars back in. the cigars can stay a day or so extra if you are really freaked out.

that should fix ya up good.

bert873

Thanks for the help guys! Looks like I have some freezing to do.

Rhamlin

Been seeing a lot of beetle pics lately. Makes me wonder if companies are foregoing the freezing process to move product faster.

catfishbluezz

Yes....freeze everything

Bryvik59

Hey guys I am just starting to season my first humidor. I have been smoking cigars for about three months now and have never heard the word Beetles brought up in conversation. Is this something I should be concerned about and if so how do I prevent them?

Rhamlin

Bryvik59:

Hey guys I am just starting to season my first humidor. I have been smoking cigars for about three months now and have never heard the word Beetles brought up in conversation. Is this something I should be concerned about and if so how do I prevent them?

Google cigar beetles. They are nasty little buggers. But as long as you keep your temps down around 70 most times your ok. All cigars have the beetle eggs in them but most companies freeze their cigars in order to kill them so for the most part they aren't that big a problem. Some people don't want to take any chances and freeze everything for a couple days before putting them in their humi's just to be safe. High temps around 75 cause the eggs to hatch.

Bob_Luken

Bryvik59:

Hey guys I am just starting to season my first humidor. I have been smoking cigars for about three months now and have never heard the word Beetles brought up in conversation. Is this something I should be concerned about and if so how do I prevent them?

Welcome to the forum Bry.

Capt H is correct. Beetles are "activated" by higher temperatures and, to some degree, higher humidity too.

Home freezing is easy but, in my opinion, if I still had a small collection like you do now, I would not bother with it until I had a problem. I have had beetles a few times in just a few years. That's not normal. That's way above average. I guess I'm unlucky. LOL Most guys don't ever get them.

Zero degrees Fahrenheit for 72 hours is my usual formula. Put them in a single layer in a ziplock bag, remove the excess air. Yep, that's pretty much it. Oh, and let them rest for at least a couple of weeks afterward.

bert873

I was having a temperature issue and couldn't keep it down. I have since acquired a wineador from a great botl on here that will keep my temps under control and stop my beetle issue.

catfishbluezz

Wineador's are the biz. I freeze everything not going in mine. No need to freeze a humidor though, they hate cedar. Good luck man, and don't be surprised if you fill it up and need that old humi. Trust me, it happens lol.

Bryvik59

Thanks For the advice Bob. I have been trying to do as much research as I can on the cigar industry in general. This entire process has been wonderful so far. My goal it to attend the Big Smoke in vegas next year.

ehehat

kuzi16:

id freeze the collection. 2-3 days below 0 would be best. zip loc bags for all cigars. suck out as much air as you can while sealing them. bag the humidor and put it in a chest freezer for 2-3 days. after that time pull out the humidor, re-season it and get the cigars out but keep them in the bags. once the humidor is seasoned put the cigars back in. the cigars can stay a day or so extra if you are really freaked out.

that should fix ya up good.

yeah, what he said.