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Cigar beetles

oke&coke

oke&coke

Shut up baby I know it!
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Messages
3,666
Today I was fishing out a cigar and I found a small hole in one of them.  I started to look at the other sticks and found one more stick with a hole in it.  Now I know I have beetles.  I have gone through all three of my desktop humi's as well as the ziplock of yard gars I keep in a dresser drawer and so far only the one humi looks to be infected with two sticks affected.  One was promptly smoked the other will make a visit to the freezer along with all the cigars from that humi.  I still need to check my foot locker to see if I have a problem in there, though when I did reorganize it a week or two ago I found nothing out of the ordinary.  
 
Right now the plan is to get the entire collection into the freezer eventually and the humi's cleaned out.  I have also been considering a wineador, so now I am dead set on getting one.  
 
Luckily, only two people have received cigars from my stash and have been notified by pm.  That should keep the problem from spreading.
 
MadMonk said:
Set that freezer as cold as you can. 
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Freezer has been set to "Are you kidding me?"
 
Also of note, when I initially started my inspection I looked at one of the cigars next to the first affected cigar.  I found what I thought was a piece of dirt and brushed it off with my finger.  BOOM.  Another hole.  It appears that I actually caught the little bugger going from one cigar to the next.  Unfortunately I couldn't find him in the carpet when I brushed him off.
 
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I've been concerned about beetles since getting here as I've found the fridgidore internal temperature getting a bit higher than I like every so often.  Didn't have to worry about that in Europe.  I did unexpectedly find mold on two of my Padrons, and promptly removed them.  Nothing else showed any signs and I'm inspecting the inventory daily.  No signs of little critters, and I hope that doesn't change.  Hopefully you've taken care of your problem by isolating the infested sticks.  I've read around here that home-grade freezers will not get cold enough to make a difference to beetles, but it can't hurt to try -- I certainly would.
 
I have actually been concerned about beetles since I read about them.  I am actually most surprised they appeared now instead of during the heat of summer like I thought.
 
I've been keeping my humidor & coolador in the basement where the temperature is usually around 69ºF (In the Winter at least) so hopefully I won't have to worry about that.
 
Got word back from those that got cigars from me. They are either still in quarantine or in a smaller humidor away from their main stash. Lucky I don't have to worry about someone else getting beetles from me. They also did not get any cigars out of the affected humidor so that was also good. Have not found any evidence of a problem in any other box of mine so it looks to be contained and treated. Will post an update later as I continue to freeze my cigars.
 
So, in the event I ever experience such an issue...

After freezing... Are they safe to put back into regular storage? Or should they stay quarantined until all are smoked?
 
They should be ok to go back into the humidor after it has been cleaned out. I don't believe any more quarantine is needed.
 
Always remember there are 2 types of cigar smokers....those that have dealt with beetles and those who will deal with beetles.   Your doing all the right things.
 
I had a pinhole in one of my sticks in the humidor.  I got very paranoid, emptied all of my sticks out, put them in the fridge, then in the freezer for 4 days, then back in the fridge, then let them sit at room temp, then back in the humidor.  The key is not to shock the sticks.  if they warm up too fast, they can swell and split.
 
All the research i did stated:  
 
from humidor to fridge for 12 hour.
fridge to freezer for 2-3 days (i did 4 cuz paranoia)
freezer to fridge for a day
fridge to room temp for a day
then back into the humidor
 
 
Of course i threw out the stick that had the hole...and that was after i dissected it.  turns out the hole wasn't just in the wrapper/binder, but all the way down to the filler.  never saw any larvae, but i had some dust.
 
while they were freezing i took the opportunity to wipe the humidor down with alcohol and reseason it.
 
since then, it has been spot on at 70/70 with no issues at all.
 
 
Beatles make me paranoid, as with the rest of us i assume.  I hope i never have to actually deal with them, so as a precaution i freeze untrusted cigars regularly now when i add them to the humidor.  I figure it's a small price to pay to protect my investment.
 
hope everything works out for you.
 
Okay, lets put the myths to bed. Unless your freezer goes down to -40F, you are wasting your time freezing your cigars. This means you need access to a commercial freezer.  You may kill beetles but their eggs will still be viable at temps above -40. Beetles are tough mothers, as any gardener can attest.
 
Doc
 
Devil Doc said:
Okay, lets put the myths to bed. Unless your freezer goes down to -40F, you are wasting your time freezing your cigars. This means you need access to a commercial freezer.  You may kill beetles but their eggs will still be viable at temps above -40. Beetles are tough mothers, as any gardener can attest.
 
Doc
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Wow. Thanks Doc. Had no idea.
 
Devil Doc said:
Okay, lets put the myths to bed. Unless your freezer goes down to -40F, you are wasting your time freezing your cigars. This means you need access to a commercial freezer.  You may kill beetles but their eggs will still be viable at temps above -40. Beetles are tough mothers, as any gardener can attest.
 
Doc
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i didn't know that.
 
all the research i did on line said to do exactly what i did.  nothing mentioned anything about a temp or a commercial freezer.
 
 
so what you 're saying is that unless we have a commercial freezer, we're screwed?
 
One word Noob: Quarantine for every cigar that comes through your door. Just because it's on line doesn't make it true. I got my information from a cigar smoking biology professor. I consider him a better source than the internet. I figure anyone who does his doctoral dissertation on a bug that lives on a bug, probably knows what he's talking about. :p
 
Doc
 
I read this University of Florida paper.  I don't believe everything I read and the paper may be in fact full of crap, but it appears to be somewhat scholarly.  http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/stored/cigarette_beetle.htm
 
 
I had beetles once upon a time and lost, thankfully, only a few cigars.  I have since stored my cigars for long periods in temperatures less than 70 degrees F.  While I know that is not a certain thing and they are tough to kill I can only offer my experience and not in any scientific way.  Heed the advice and quarantine and check often.

Devil Doc said:
One word Noob: Quarantine for every cigar that comes through your door. Just because it's on line doesn't make it true. I got my information from a cigar smoking biology professor. I consider him a better source than the internet. I figure anyone who does his doctoral dissertation on a bug that lives on a bug, probably knows what he's talking about. :p
 
Doc
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Agreed.
 
Just wanted to update that after searching through my stashes only the one humi had any evidence of beetles.  Fortunately it was only the two sticks which met a tasty demise.  Funnily enough they were both Ave Maria's, and had been sitting for about 4-5 months.  Still searching for a wine cooler, but keeping close tabs until I do.
 
So I'm late to the party, but I'm also a paranoid mother effer. 
 
Under quarantine law that Devil Doc describes, how long should you quarantine in a mini-dor before you move to your main humidor? When can anyone be certain that their humidor will not be infested and destroyed?
 
I've got a load of cigars in my deep freezer but I'm pretty sure the sucker only gets to -20F running on max cold settings. I had read that was low enough, but on here it sounds like that's not the case.
 
I was biting my nails before and now i've worn em out completely.
 
Thanks for jogging my memory on this topic.  I little while ago I read an article about cigar beetles that backs up Doc.  In it they do say that freezing won't kill the eggs only the adults.  What it does do is causes them to go dormant again.  Once the cigars are out of the freezer, as long as the temp does not go high again, the eggs shouldn't become active but will still be there and viable.  So in essence, freezing cigars and then maintaining a proper temp will help control the beetles but not kill them entirely.
 
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