Tobacco Beetle Experiences

[badwhale]

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.

Beetle hatching has more to do with temperature than humidity.

Will

[Tdre977]

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.

[MarineOne]

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.

[Shane at Cusano Cigars]

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.

[Paddy]

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.

[mrtr33]

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

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

[Cigarbear]

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

[badwhale]

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.

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.

[Roham]

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).

[ggiese]

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...

[ilikefishes]

Beetle hatching has more to do with temperature than humidity.

Will

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.

[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?

[badwhale]

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?

Plasencia ~ those are organic.

Yes, some spray the crops.

Will

[mail man]

Plasencia ~ those are organic.

Yes, some spray the crops.

Will

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

[ashauler]

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

Perhaps it explains more than that!

[mail man]

Perhaps it explains more than that!

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