small beetle problem

[ReV]

Ok so, I found a solo beetle dieing on the outside of one of my loose sticks in the 120 qt igloo. After inventorying every cigar in there, I isolated the problem to one particular box of cigars that were questionable to begin with. Every cigar in that box had holes and are now in deep freeze. The problem is that the box didn't close very well and a few lil bastards snuck out. All my sticks are in closed boxes except about 50 loose sticks on top. I didn't find any trace of beetles on any of my sticks outside the problem box except one loose cigar. I've sealed up all my loose sticks in ziplocks. I don't have the time or freezer space to freeze every cigar in the cooler, so I decided to separate out everything and occasionally check all the boxes/bags to make sure they're no new developments. Any thoughts on this? am I asking for trouble? Will ziplocks contain new problems?

The whole thing is odd because my cooler usually runs pretty dry. Its only around 64 rh in there, but I guess the heat was enough to cause problems. Any opinions on this would be great as I've never actually had a beetle problem before. If it were my desktop humi, I'd just freeze every stick in there.

[Alcibiates]

I thought beetles didn't care about the RH, just the temperature? In which case your igloo may be running a bit on the warm side and you may want to relocate it--I could very well be wrong here, though.

I would ask a friend if they have a freezer that you could use for a couple days to freeze the sticks just to make sure... But I'm paranoid about things like this and wouldn't want to take the chance of losing anymore sticks to the little buggers.

The method you're using now seems like it will work well enough, so long as there's humidifiers in all of the ziplocs, but I would make sure that everything is being stored <70 degrees, and I would have just pitched the whole box that the beetles came out of. Not sure what would want to make you keep a questionable box of cigars that beetles came out of...

[ReV]

<70 storage is not an option, I wish it were. You're correct on the problem though, the heat is most definitely what hatched the things. The house rides around 75, but over the summer the heat was too much for the AC and it was close to 77ish. I think they like it humid, but at these temps, it probably doesn't matter much. Thinking about it, I may go ahead and freeze all of the loose sticks, but I honestly don't have the resources for the ones in the boxes; 'wait and see' will have to do. My real problem now is back to the problem I've had all summer, how the hell can I lower the temp in my cooler without lowering the whole house.

[here'sjohnny]

ReV, in regards to your temperature problem, would it be possible to switch from a coolidor to a wine cooler? i know the switch may cost more, but the wine cooler could be set to the proper temp with a few modifications from the few things ive read on here. Don't know if it will work for you, buts its an option.

[CAJUNBLAZE]

I wonder if anyone has tried a small ice pack. Say like one of those small ziploc bags, freeze water in it, then wrap it in a paper towel and put it in another ziploc. I have the same problem, during the summer it can get as high as 78 in the house.

Rich

[DeeDubya]

I'm thinking about converting one of the "thermoelectric" wine coolers for my long term storage. They draw minimal current and can easily cool down to 60 or so. It would be a bargain compared to loosing a couple grand in stogs.

[ashauler]

I wonder if anyone has tried a small ice pack. Say like one of those small ziploc bags, freeze water in it, then wrap it in a paper towel and put it in another ziploc. I have the same problem, during the summer it can get as high as 78 in the house.

Rich

Try the blue-ice pack thingys, I've heard tell they work. They are most efficient used in combination with beads to regulate the humdity as the ice pack sweats. YMMV.