Tobacco Beetle Experiences

[Eville]

I have only experienced beetles in my nightmares, thankfully.

[Mangyrat]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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