small beetle problem

[Shelby07]

I emptied. cleaned and surveyed. Maybe i'm being niave, but I honestly don't think the things could physically get into most of my boxes as they're very tightly sealed and there was no evidence of beetles inside. The infestation was relatively new as there were only a few holes in a few sticks for the moment and everything that was loose or in a box that didn't seal well is now in the freezer. If you think they could have gotten in the closed boxes, I may try to find some way to get all the sticks in the freezer (like I said, I've never personally dealt with these), but I'm pretty confident in my selective freezing method. Luckily, its getting cooler here so I don't have to worry about cooling down my humis again for a few months at least.

I guess I wouldn't take the chance. If they have started a cycle, cooler weather won't stop it. Freezing the cigars is cheap insurance. The little buggers scare me.

If you do rotate in and out of the freezer, take them all out and store them in a double plastic trash bag until you have space to put them in the freezer. That should keep the RH pretty stable. I wouldn't mix the ones you take out of the freezer with the ones that haven't been frozen yet... but that's just me.

[ReV]

I guess I wouldn't take the chance. If they have started a cycle, cooler weather won't stop it. Freezing the cigars is cheap insurance. The little buggers scare me.

If you do rotate in and out of the freezer, take them all out and store them in a double plastic trash bag until you have space to put them in the freezer. That should keep the RH pretty stable. I wouldn't mix the ones you take out of the freezer with the ones that haven't been frozen yet... but that's just me.

I'm with you on the not mixing, I'm just wondering if there is a decent enough chance that they got to all the cigars I have in closed boxes? Most of my cooler sticks were in closed and latched cigar boxes, most of which have a pretty tight seal on... are those sticks at risk from the beetles in the open part of the cooler? Is the 'wait and see game' too dangerous? Or are the odds in my favor that the sticks in the closed boxes are still OK and thus regularly checking on them for the next few months would be sufficient? To me, freezing those cigars would be like freezing the sticks in all your different humis when only one was infested.

[lement92]

make sure you check the boxes good though. i have heard of them eating through wooden boxes.

[ReV]

make sure you check the boxes good though. i have heard of them eating through wooden boxes.

Good call, I found this out earlier tonight. No more damage, but I did find two dead beetles that I somehow missed in yesterday's inventory. Luckily, I also remembered that I have this lovely little mini fridge from my dorm that use to freeze my soft drinks solid and is now being used to keep my beers frosty cold. Long story short, I did a container switch and my igloo is being used for its original purpose of keeping my beers cold and the mini fridge is freezing my cigars solid. It took all night and every damn freezer bag in the house, but every one of my cigars from my cooler is now in deep freeze. Now I just gotta hope that my triple bagging methods and transition periods keep my cigars from splitting open. I now have two questions for anyone who may know the answers....

a) My cigars are in large chunks, all packed together (probably 25 to a 1gallon freezer bag). How much extra freeze time should I count on to make sure everything gets down to the correct temp?

b) when everything is ready to go back in the cooler; the cooler is cleaned out, the cigars are treated, what about the boxes? Should I scrap the old boxes just in case there are more beetles lurking (they evaded my inspection last night somehow) or will the boxes be safe to use after sitting out while the cigars are in freeze?

[DeeDubya]

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/document.p...Tobacco+Beetle

One of the best articles I have read on the "Beetle Plague".

[CAJUNBLAZE]

That was a good article. I wouldn't think it would take 4 days in deep freeze to kill the beetles and larvae.

I guess if you wanted to keep the boxes, the only safe way would be to freeze them.

Rich

[Shelby07]

I read an article some time back on a "taste test" done on previously frozen vs non-frozen cigars. The result was that the effect was minimal to non-existent. In fact, there are lots of smokers who freeze everything before they go into their humidor. Just be sure to move them from the freezer into the fridge for a day before they go back so they don't crack or split.


...and I'd freeze the boxes, too.