Tobacco Beetle Experiences

Ok. Other threads have me hyperventilating now about tobacco beetles.

While I personally haven't had nightmares yet about my stash getting trashed, I hear other people do.:smiley2:

So, here's the poll, I'm trying to find out the likelihood & extent of such an event, and perhaps your thoughts as to the reason it happened (i.e. I bought fake cohibas off the beach, or my buddy in Mexico rolled this double corona for me, but I haven't smoked it yet...etc.)

Will

Edit: I voted for the 2nd. I've seen it, but my stash has been safe sofar, but apparently I'm at risk with higher temps, and I don't freeze my stuff, or have a quarantine cooler...

I've seen a picture of a beetle hole... that's about it.

No problems in well over two years of seriouos purchasing and storing cigars.



Oh Yeah... the first person to post that Padron beetle picture is gonna get the white-owl bomb! :smiley7:

I've seen pictures online, but nothing in my cigars...yet, but I'm fairly new to storing cigars.

I agree with you Will, reading things online make me a bit nervous since I don't freeze or have a quarantine cooler. And my apartment gets warm enough that I have contemplated purchasing something like this to keep my cooler cool. Plus I could then brew lager with it. Bonus!

I've seen beetles and smoked a few cigars that had beetles at one point. Never had an out break.

Beetles happen.


DG

I've smoked "beetled" cigars.

There's usually a pop, followed by subtle hints of spearmint.

I know I don't have a problem with beetles. Well... you need to actually have more than one or two cigars at a time to get them... I think.

Spearmint hint? Does that mean Beetles become the menthol of cigars? LOL

Mine were untreated cigars - fake Cubans, and, once, a bundle from an Internet vendor.

Once there was a supply-chain issue - e.g., a few folks had problems with Graycliff 1666 last year. Both of the ones I had, had holes. (The 1666 is not made where the rest of the Graycliffs are made)

Its kind of like cedar-wrapped cigars and mold - you can worry about it and do something, or not worry about it.


What? You didn't know mold grows under those little cedar sheets that some manufacturer's wrap their cigars in?

:smiley8:

Recieved a 5er Gurkha's and inspecting before putting in humi found 3 to 4 little holes in two of the cigars being a newbie and not belonging to this forum yet called distributor they said to freeze and they cedited my acount.

Miscommumication resulted in 50 count humi left in a hot van for a number of days during a move. Everything went into dumpster

Can I vote twice?

1. My first beetle experience involved a humi I had in long-term storage. (Why? Because I'm a monkey - that's why.) The contents were turned into mulch. I kept no cigars on hand for many years.

2. Several years after the first incident, I decided to again keep a few sticks around my office. In '07, I received a box purchased from a very popular on-line vendor. There was evidence of beetles. Not knowing how to handle such an event, I turned to the internet for information. Brilliant! Fortunately, I discovered this forum while searching for beetle control information. There are several mentions on the board of possible solutions and good information on proper storage to help prevent such occurrences. Once the second small problem was managed, I had no further beetle incidents.

I wouldn't worry too much about beetles. Enjoy the hobby and deal with the small problems if they arise.

I keep my coolidor in the basement. It usually runs around 70-73 temp and 70 humidity. I barely have any humidification sponges in their either. Is that a problem? Will my cigars start to get that basement smell and taste? Am I more at risk for beetles because I keep my sticks in the basement?

U

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Originally Posted by SMEG

I keep my coolidor in the basement. It usually runs around 70-73 temp and 70 humidity. I barely have any humidification sponges in their either. Is that a problem? Will my cigars start to get that basement smell and taste? Am I more at risk for beetles because I keep my sticks in the basement?

U

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Not having the proper humidity is indeed a problem. 70% is a little high for my smoking preferences, but is the rh% that I use for aging. At 70% I experience too much wrapper splitting, so I keep my smoking humis at 60-65 %.

If your cooler seals well, the outside environment shouldn't affect the cigars at all, imo.

No, the lower temps are the protection against beetles. The higher the temp in your cooler the more chance for beetles to hatch......so you're better off with it in the basement, imo.

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Originally Posted by SMEG

I keep my coolidor in the basement. It usually runs around 70-73 temp and 70 humidity. I barely have any humidification sponges in their either. Is that a problem? Will my cigars start to get that basement smell and taste? Am I more at risk for beetles because I keep my sticks in the basement?

U

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No worries - as long as the coolidor seals well. And I store my cigars in discarded cedar cigar boxes I pick up from my local B&M. They all smoke incredibly well after storage. :smiley20:

I have only experienced beetles in my nightmares, thankfully.

With summer coming on I do get a little concerned with shipping cigars and having them sit in a hot mail truck or warehouse for 4 to 7 days.

I haven't had a problem yet but as the weather is beginning to change, I think I am going to adopt the practice of keeping my humidors between 60-65. I find that they smoke well at that humidity.

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Originally Posted by ndv21

I haven't had a problem yet but as the weather is beginning to change, I think I am going to adopt the practice of keeping my humidors between 60-65. I find that they smoke well at that humidity.

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Beetle hatching has more to do with temperature than humidity.

Will

I was fretting the other day because my temp spiked to like 83ish, I looked around the forum and decided to add a ice pack to bring it down, but man, it had me worried about them beetles. Now I moved it to the bottom of my closet, not as asthetically pleasing as it was sitting on my dresser, but the temp has dropped considerably.

I've had some temp spikes out here when the A/C in my room died while I was home on leave, and didn't have any issues with beetles.

It ruined a couple of cigars, but most were able to be saved.

Actually a lot of cigars have beetle eggs inside them. The beetles lay eggs on the plants in the fields and the eggs are so small that the workers can't see them and therefore these eggs get rolled up into the cigar!

Proper temperature control is necessary to prevent the eggs from hatching and spreading throughout your humidor as some of the above replies mentioned (60-70 F). Some manufacturers freeze their product when it is imported to prevent the eggs from ever hatching no matter what temperature they are stored at.

The best thing you can do is ensure proper temp control and check your cigars periodically.

Up until today I have never seen a beetle hole in person.
As posted on the today's smokes thread, I really enjoyed the
new blend of Flor del Todo as a cheap smoke.
I won a five'er on C-Bid along with a few other samplers.
The package arrived today with the samplers in good condition, but the five'er
of Flor del Todo are riddled with beetle holes. Three have two to three good size
hole and two look OK. I binned the entire 5 pack just to be on the safe side.
Thought of contacting the Devil Site, but I just might lay off the cheapies for a while.

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Originally Posted by Paddy

Thought of contacting the Devil Site, but I just might lay off the cheapies for a while.

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I'd still contact CI. From what I've heard, they have excellent customer service.

Definitely contact them. They'll send replacements or credit you the charge. Best customer service ever :smiley20:

I'll do that and get the credit. I'm going to stay away from the cheapies for a while.
I normally don't smoke dollar cigars, but I'm trying to fill up a huge humidor to stable out the RH.

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Originally Posted by badwhale

Beetle hatching has more to do with temperature than humidity.

Will

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This could not be truer. It actually is all about temperature. When the leaf is rolled and the eggs are on it the future is set. Then you order sticks from your favorite on-line dealer. When they ship them in UPS or something similar, then the temps in the back of those trucks get above 85 f. This causes the beetles to hatch and then you done. The best way to keep from loosing a tremendous investment is to freeze new cigars for three (3) days, refrigerate for three (3) days, lay on your counter for three (3) days and then place in your humidor. I am sure you could probably skip the last two steps, but it makes the shock to the cigar leaf not as drastic. If you are not going to smoke the cigar right away do this with every stick you are going to put in your humidor. When I do the math, I have more than $1,500 in my humidor. I could not even tell you how I would feel if I lost all my "special occasion" cigars.

I saw an "organic" cigar being marketed recently. One of the points was no pesticides. I started to think back to this thread, and wondered if they were more likely to get beetles. But do cigar companies ever use pesticides?

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Originally Posted by ericbee

I saw an "organic" cigar being marketed recently. One of the points was no pesticides. I started to think back to this thread, and wondered if they were more likely to get beetles. But do cigar companies ever use pesticides?

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Plasencia ~ those are organic.

Yes, some spray the crops.

Will

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Originally Posted by badwhale

Plasencia ~ those are organic.

Yes, some spray the crops.

Will

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That would explain why I can't put som brands down. :smiley36:

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Originally Posted by mail man

That would explain why I can't put som brands down. :smiley36:

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Perhaps it explains more than that! :smiley2:

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Originally Posted by ashauler

Perhaps it explains more than that! :smiley2:

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Nah, I think that would come down to being dropped as a baby...and as an adult. :smiley36:

Decided to bump this thread.

On a whim tonight, I decided to get my whole stash out, and re-inventory / sort everything. I was in a box that I'm keeping closed for about a year, and low and behold, I saw a hole in a torpedo. I knew that wasn't there when I got them.:smiley21:

I noticed a dead beetle (it was crispy) laying in the box, so I pulled that box and set it aside. I didn't notice any other activity on any of the cigars I was handling / sorting.

Later, I saw another torpedo with another hole, and it had a live one in it. I chucked those two, and took the garbage out. The rest of them, after thorough inspection, went in a zip lock, and are in the freezer.

This room in the house gets very hot in the summer. Flat rubber roof above, and not a good layout for air circulation from the AC in the kitchen. Might have to invest in a window shaker for the room.

Wow!! I just voted! Never voted before lol, but what a great old gem of a thread. Anyways, I have seen a few holes in my time, and one actual dead dry crisp beetle. Never really took any precautions before or after and have been "lucky" so far. Calgary is a fairly dry city though(except for the floods recently).

A few years back I was in Nassau, Bahamas in one of the cheesy cigar shops (selling Kooban cigars and all sorts of crazy "stuff") along the cruise port area. I chuckled when I came across a "bruised and reduced" box of ratty cigars - most of which had multiple patched up beetle holes.

The other freaky story I have was when I attended a large herf in Central Illinois. There must have been several hundred cigar smokers attending. One of the participants (never met him before) approached me and offered a cigar from a brand new box he'd won in a raffle (something like domestic Partagas - nothing special). He'd already passed out nearly half he box. I lifted a cigar out from the bottom row (untouched and solidly packed) and it broke apart in my hand. He pulled all of the bottom row out and every cigar in that row was destroyed by beetle damage. And beetle larvae were everywhere! Needless to say - people were freaking out because a number of attendees had some very expensive rare aged and collectable Cubans (e.g. Davidoff and Dunhill Cubans). The poor guy was nearly tackled to the floor and tossed to the curb...

Whew! I'm glad you refreshed this Will, I hadn't seen it before.

Luckily I've yet to see any beetles, or holes, in any of my cigars but I'm definitely going to inspect them all this weekend. Sadly, that won't take me near as long as I wish it would take!

Since starting to smoke cigars I refrained from buying too many during winter months because I was concerned about them freezing. Now I no long have concerns and will likely swap that around to doing most of my purchasing during winter where I know the cigars will freeze a couple times over before I take them home!

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Originally Posted by craig

Mine were untreated cigars - fake Cubans, and, once, a bundle from an Internet vendor.

Once there was a supply-chain issue - e.g., a few folks had problems with Graycliff 1666 last year. Both of the ones I had, had holes. (The 1666 is not made where the rest of the Graycliffs are made)

Its kind of like cedar-wrapped cigars and mold - you can worry about it and do something, or not worry about it.


What? You didn't know mold grows under those little cedar sheets that some manufacturer's wrap their cigars in?

:smiley8:

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Are some cigars somehow treated for beetles at the factory? Or is this in reference to them not being home treated (freezing, etc)? I only ask because this mentions "untreated cigars" and I've never heard of any that were treated..?

And for the record, I chose the last option, BUT it was several years ago, and I only had 5 or 6 cigars stored in a mason jar at the time so "destroying everything" wasn't much of a loss...