Help!!! Beetles!!!

Just about to go to bed. Checked my humidor and what do I see? One of those little son of a bitch tobacco beetles! Then as I was inspecting my cigars I see another one crawling around. Fuck!!! OK, this means war. I've only found one cigar with a beetle hole in it, but I've had that cigar since like October, so I'm not entirely certain he came from that one. I've bagged up all my cigars and am throwing them in the freezer for three days like the one post on here says. Then I'll take them out and inspect them again, although a precursory inspection revealed no other holes. If anyone has had a similar experience or has any other advice, I'm open to it. I'm so mad right now it's not even funny.

Anyway, thanks in advance. At least I'm going into this with y'all at my back (uh, right?).

TampaSupremo

P.S. Has anyone here ever smoked one by accident (or hell, on purpose for that matter)??

Are you sure they are tobacco beetles? I wouldn't expect then to be hatching this time of year, even in Atlanta. From what I understand, they need sustained heat and humidity for that to happen. If you are sure they are beetles, I'd be more inclined to suspect something that you just added to your humi.

I figured the same thing, that they are due to a recent addition. Like I said, after a few days in the freezer I'll do a better inspection to see which may have had the beetles. Right now they are resting comfortably in an Orama torpedo (a brand rolled in Tampa by Gonzalez Habano Cigar Co). I tried to get pics, but they just looked like blobs in the photo. I'm gonna go outside and torch these fuckers before they cause any more damage.

Heh - the nice thing about living in Minnesota is that for 9 months of the year, beetles aren't even a second thought. And all your new stuff gets a mini freezer treatment in your mailbox.

Hope they were loners. Makes me wonder how many beetles and eggs we've all smoked over the years. Better not to know.

Yeah, those beetles scare the crap out of me as well. I do not think I have too much to worry about though. It is not very hot here either.

Dude, that sucks!

One thing I would suggest, and admittedly I don't know much about beetles, is to treat the humidor somehow to kill off any eggs that may inadvertantly be in there. Anyone have an idea?

-W.

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Originally Posted by aceswired

Heh - the nice thing about living in Minnesota is that for 9 months of the year, beetles aren't even a second thought. And all your new stuff gets a mini freezer treatment in your mailbox.

Hope they were loners. Makes me wonder how many beetles and eggs we've all smoked over the years. Better not to know.

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I figured the same thing living in PA, but I just found some signs in one of my cigars. It was wrapped in cello, and I didn't see any signs in any other cigars, but they're all in the freezer right now just in case. Do I need to do anything to the humidor too?

I would wipe down the humi.

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Originally Posted by nhcigarfan

I would wipe down the humi.

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With distilled water, or something else?

Send your humidor directly to me to inspect. If there is any infestation, I will burn it at once.


No, I believe I read somewhere to let it dry completely out and re-season the humidor!
I could be wrong though.

just put your humidor in the freezer as well...why not?

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Originally Posted by indysmoker

just put your humidor in the freezer as well...why not?

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I don't know what effect putting the humi in the freezer would have on the wood. I'd be leery of that. Temperature extremes like that might damage it.

The cedar lining repels the beetles. I would just wipe it down real good with distilled water and let it set for a few days then examine for beetle turds. From what I understand they will smear when you rub them as opposed to tobacco leaf flakes which will not.

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Originally Posted by mills

With distilled water, or something else?

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I would use nothing but a clean cloth. A little elbow grease should take out any remaining nasties.

Then maybe distilled water just to get everthing back up to speed.

Thanks for all the advice. I kind of combined all of those. I let it dry out, then threw it in the freezer for about a day, and later I will wipe it down and put the cigars back in. I want it to be stabilized for my shipment from slcraiders. Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by Shelby07

The cedar lining repels the beetles. I would just wipe it down real good with distilled water and let it set for a few days then examine for beetle turds. From what I understand they will smear when you rub them as opposed to tobacco leaf flakes which will not.

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Yeah, but then you've got smeared beetle turd in your box. That's kinda beat. As it turns out, The next day I was messing with the box and accidently dumped my The Puck beads into the box. I had to roll them around so much to get them out that leaf bits and whatever else might have been in there came out with them. I dumped them in a glass of distilled water to separate the debris from the beads. Then I blasted the box with some canned air. I think the box will probably be ok.

Gonna take my sticks out of the freezer this weekend. A day in the fridge to reduce some of the shock and then back in the box. From now on, I'm keeping all my sticks in cello.

TampaSupremo

question:

I just got a humidor not too long ago and this thread has me worried... about how common are beetles anyway? I live in a pretty tropical climate down here, but i keep my humi between 67-71% humidity and around 71 degreee temp.

I don't think they are all that common. Or rather, heavy infestations are not that common. The B&M I go to inspects every stick they put on the shelves because their insurance policy does not cover tobacco beetle infestations so they have a vested interest in making sure they don't place suspicious looking sticks on the shelf. Plus the manufacturers have their own controls in place (chemicals, freezing, etc). The important thing is to make sure that at the first sign of beetles, toss the infected sticks and freeze the others. It may not destroy the eggs but it will kill larvae.

I'm an expert on this by no means, but I've spoken to some knowledgeable folks and done a good bit of reading on the boards. This is the info I've gleaned on this situation. Hope this helps.

TampaSupremo

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Originally Posted by ReV

I just got a humidor not too long ago and this thread has me worried... about how common are beetles anyway?

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I've read that virtually every cigar has at least beetle eggs (even if they're no longer viable). It's a matter of those little bastards hatching that makes it a problem. But it is odd to know that you're smoking beetle eggs pretty much every time you light up.

Sorry to relive anyones nightmare but this shit scares me almost to the point of only having a very small collection. How common are these things and what temp and humidity do they thrive at? I would hate for some of my cigars I've had for 6 monts or so to be wasted.

Do a search. I posted a thread a month or so ago that had a poll. There were other discussions in there too.

Will

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Originally Posted by SMEG

Sorry to relive anyones nightmare but this shit scares me almost to the point of only having a very small collection. How common are these things and what temp and humidity do they thrive at? I would hate for some of my cigars I've had for 6 monts or so to be wasted.

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There are some incredible pics floating around showing the kind of damage these little buggers make. I personally saw a brand new box from the manufacturer, won in a drawing, LOADED with larvae. The tops of the cigars looked perfectly fine - but when you flipped the cigars over there was little that hadn't been chewed into...

I'm not aware there's any secret formula for preventing it from happening. One manufacturer or region doesn't seem to be more or less susceptible. Freezing seems to help - I know my shop supposedly freezes everything coming in - but I've also heard of individuals that have been hit AFTER the cigars were frozen. Keeping the cigars cool (around 70 degrees) does seem to help. Letting the cigars get over 80 degrees for any kind of prolonged period seems to speed the process up.

Bottom line - It happens often enough to be concerned, but not enough to lose sleep over it... :smiley2:

Although I would never want to have my cigars ruined by beetles, it could be a blessing in disguise. It would be an excuse to rebuild my collection... with better cigars!

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Originally Posted by TravPSU

Although I would never want to have my cigars ruined by beetles, it could be a blessing in disguise. It would be an excuse to rebuild my collection... with better cigars!

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Personally, I would prefer to rebuild my collection with better cigars after smoking and enjoying my current sicks. :smiley2: Wait, that might depend upon what you've been collecting...

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Originally Posted by Irish79

Personally, I would prefer to rebuild my collection with better cigars after smoking and enjoying my current sicks. :smiley2: Wait, that might depend upon what you've been collecting...

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I have a mighty fine collection of Swisher sweets...:smiley11:

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Originally Posted by TravPSU

I have a mighty fine collection of Swisher sweets...:smiley11:

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What, no contests for those?

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Originally Posted by ashauler

What, no contests for those?

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Sorry, these are my personal stash. Saving them for a special occasion. All my other cigars are just bait for the beetles so my Swishers are left alone.