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question about beetles

Hey everyone, quick question, when we trade and purchase cigars online or in person, does anyone put them thru the fridge and freezer to make sure there are no eggs..... i haven not been , but recently one of my friends had an ashton that was infested......made me think, that it is a good time to start preventing......i dont want to lose all the sticks ive worked soo hard to collect and purchase, all go to the damn beetles.,.. any thoughts, comments, suggestions...... i was told............1 day in fridge, 3 days in freezer than back to 1 day in fridge........my girl came back form l.a and brought back two cubans........dont know who and where they were stored.....i placed them in my humi, then woke up this morning, sweating.........i said ***......let me start the debuggin process with these two cigars.... dont want to get infested with these things

Comments

  • kaspera79kaspera79 Posts: 7,257 ✭✭✭
    My wife just got back from Florida with six " fresh rolled" cigars from some guy selling in the street. Now, my experience has been pleasant with these cigars in the past as far as smoking enjoyment, but this time I decided to isolate the bunch for a while. No problems so far. In fact, they may be gone before they ever reach general population.
  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968
    I'm sure you will get many opinions on this.
    Most factories do a pretty good job of controlling beetles, but did you know that it is a very common bug? It can be found in flour, sugar, spices or even a bag of dog food! Your cigars could be beetle free, and then one tiny little bugger lands in your humidor and LOOKOUT!
    Ok, now that you are scared $h*tless, there is good news.
    • If you inspect your cigars from time to time, you should be able to spot an infestation before it gets out of control
    • If you keep your RH below 75% and the temp below 80, the eggs won't hatch
    • If you give all of your sticks to us BOTL as gifts, you won't have to worry any more


    You can find a lot of info on beetles online, but most BOTL never have to face an infestation, and prevention is the key. I don't freeze my sticks, as a rule, but I did have to freeze everything after finding 2 beetles in one of my humidors a long time ago. Never had a problem since.

    I inspect my cigars once a month, which also helps to keep them rotated. That's what works for me.

  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    Interesting. How quickly do these beetles hatch or spread, and what should one look for?
  • GoldyGoldy Posts: 1,638 ✭✭
    All of my cigars basically go into a freezer since my mail box is outside and winter temps are down to -40. Now that I have moved it will be interesting to see if I have beetle issues with new sticks since I wont have that deepfreeze any more.
  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968
    not sure about the reproduction speed on these little critters, but I do know what to look for since I have seen it myself, and it is not so obvious as some websites might suggest.

    First, the critters are really really small, and they are about the same brown as the inside wood of your humidor. That makes them difficult to see unless you are taking the cigars out of the humidor to inspect them.
    Once you take your cigars out (carefully, of course), look to see if you have leaf litter (ie, more than usual scraps of tobacco that look like small flakes). If you think something might be going on, check over your cigars, looking for holes about the size of a pin head. They might look like black dots, but if you see round black dots, use a toothpick to poke and see if it is actually a hole in the cigar.
    If you have small round holes in ANY of your cigars, it's most likely cause by beetles.

    Once you find holes, dump out that 'litter' from the bottom of your humidor onto a white sheet of paper. If any of the leaf pieces have leggs, then you are headed for the freezer. Make sure to look closely, as the beetles may have died.

    sorry for rambling on for so long, but now you have an idea what to look for. You can save your entire collection if you catch it early. I would throw out the sticks with holes and fridge/freeze/fridge the rest.

    One last note:
    While your sticks are in the freezer, wash your humi with distilled water, throw out your humidifyier and replace it and salt test the hygrometer. Let the humi dry a little and then season it as needed. Don't put the sticks back into the humi without washing it out and DON'T freeze the humi because it will make bad firewood when it thaws.

  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Have a look at my post of  05-09-2009, 12:13 PM regarding tobacco beetle elimination.

    Marty

  • Russ55Russ55 Posts: 2,765 ✭✭
    I keep a segregation humidor for stuff I get in trades/B&M purchases. I'll put stuff in there for a few months when I first get it, then move it over to a specific cooler that I keep trades/singles/new stuff in. I trust the guys on here, but I just do as a "just in case".
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i never put them in the freezer unless there are signs of beetles already. and even then only on the ones that dont have the signs from the group i receive. the ones that already have bugs are thrown out.


    if you keep them under 70F there should be no issues at all. its all about reventative measures.

  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Yep I had a breakout one time because I was staying in a state park cabin in July. No AC so humi got hot as hell RH spiked and I open up the humi to see tiny things flying around in my humidor. Everything went into the freezer, humi included, overnight. Then to the fridge.

    Even after that I don't freeze before hand I just make sure my humi don't get that hot again!
  • Nick2021Nick2021 Posts: 938 ✭✭
    I put ALL of my cigars through the freezer...with the amount of money tied up I can't afford not to do it. I have not had any problems with this yet. If I were you, go straight to the freezer for three days, then 12 hours in freezer. Technically, you can put them straight into your humi from the freezer (or dry box them right after). However, I noticed the thaw process is extremely fast which concerned me a little. Ultimately, I have NOT had a single problem with freezing cigars...after a personal experience with them in one of my desktop humidors that was enough for me. I can't imagine having one in my cabinet, the thought scare me...
  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968
    The thing you need to understand is that freezing your cigars will only kill the beetles that have already hatched. It makes eggs dormant, but they can still hatch if the temp and humidity get too high. Maintaining your humidor is always your best defense against these critters. Once again, freezing does not mean you 'can't get beetles' so be carefull and check your sticks from time to time just to make sure.

  • Nick2021Nick2021 Posts: 938 ✭✭
    camgfs:
    The thing you need to understand is that freezing your cigars will only kill the beetles that have already hatched. It makes eggs dormant, but they can still hatch if the temp and humidity get too high. Maintaining your humidor is always your best defense against these critters. Once again, freezing does not mean you 'can't get beetles' so be carefull and check your sticks from time to time just to make sure.

    Depends...check out this article on freezing and its effect on eggs and beetles...probably the most informative post I have run across http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7919
  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968
    Nick2021:
    camgfs:
    The thing you need to understand is that freezing your cigars will only kill the beetles that have already hatched. It makes eggs dormant, but they can still hatch if the temp and humidity get too high. Maintaining your humidor is always your best defense against these critters. Once again, freezing does not mean you 'can't get beetles' so be carefull and check your sticks from time to time just to make sure.

    Depends...check out this article on freezing and its effect on eggs and beetles...probably the most informative post I have run across http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7919
    Very informative. I just hope that we can all use our best judgement. Your cigars have probably been frozen at least once already before you get them, and like the article states, you can get the beetles from your cigarettes and many other sources still, even after you have frozen your cigars. It will help if the sticks are already buggy, but it won't stop t from happening again and again if you are not carefull.
    I don't loose any sleep over it, but I have had to freeze my sticks once and I keep an eye on them by sorting them once a month. This has worked for me, but if it was a regular problem, I would start freezing the sticks when I get them.

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