Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I received some cigars today and I was thinking about just double baggie-ing them in gallon sized baggies and putting them in my humidor. The cigars are cello wrapped so my question is if there are beetles could they eat through the cello, through the first baggie, and the through the second baggie infesting my humidor?

I don't really want to freeze these but I will if the baggie thing doesn't work.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

This one could, possibly!

http://www.etrange-mag.com/isopod2.jpg

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Haha that would could swallow all of these cigars as these are smaller ones. I need to add though that I am going to take them out of the cello wrap (they are a bundle) as some have gotten smooshed in transit. I think that if I take them out they will eventually regain their shape. I hope atleast. Actually does anyone know if this will work?

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Cello: yes - it won't even slow down the larvae.
Plastic bag - not totally sure here, don't think so though. At least not heavy duty bags. Saw a ziplock freezer bag full of beetle ridden sticks over the weekend, they didn't seem to be able to get out of the ziplock. Although if you were to open the ziplock bag, then any mature beetles that have developed wings could fly out of the bag, and since they don't just eat tobacco, any number of other things in your house are now at risk. Paper and certain foodstuffs in particular.

If you are that worried about possible beetle problems, you're probably just better off freezing the cigars for 4-5 days and that way you don't have to worry about it.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

If you're going to put them in freezer bags anyway, I vote for taking the next step and just freezing them. I don't like the aesthetic of zip-locs in the humi. YMMV.

If there are beetles, they aren't likely to burrow through double bagged cigars in the short term, so if you're planning to smoke these in the near future, I guess the answer to your question is you're safe.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

They will spring back a little, but depending on how much they have been "smooshed", they might not rebound completely to their original shape.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cjrILVe632...rbug+ndm-1.jpg
This one deffinitley could!
Edit: It might not be a beetle now that I look closer.
Skywalker, that one makes me cringe!



I really should start freezing my new sticks, it's kinda like extending a warranty on a T.V.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Unless the wrappers are damaged, smooshed cigars smoke just fine as many who have smoked a Culebra vitola will attest.

http://www.thecigarsmoker.com/images/culebras2.jpg

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

:tpd: What do you have against freezing them and taking care of any possible beetle issues all at once?

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Good point Vin. I was speaking solely of aesthetics with my previous answer to this issue.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Are you worried about these smokes and beetles for a particular reason? or do you always take steps when you get a new batch of sticks?

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Thanks fellas. I suppose I will just go ahead and freeze them since I am already putting them in double baggies.

The box got pretty beat the hell up. I should have gone with a 5x5 instead but had heard the bundles were older. Box code says April 2010 but my 5x5 from this past month says August 2010 so I guess it is better to go with 5x5 as they don't get beat up. Some of these look like they are triangle pressed lol.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Didn't see these posts before. Recently I have been freezing all of my new cigars. I just had heard, key word heard as this is a huge debate that I wish we not get into really haha, that freezing can take away some of the original flavors. I can't find any firm evidence that proves or disproves this so I was going to try not freezing and compare to the ones I did freeze. But when it comes down to it if I have a choice between the slight possibility of losing a small amount of flavor from these and the possibility of losing my whole collection due to beetles. I will choose to freeze because the small loss of flavor, if there even is a loss, is so minimal that I have not even been able to tell with any of my cigars.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I freeze everything :2

Cello on or off Tyler :r

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Poppycock! If it did that, the manufacturers wouldn't freeze and it's pretty much an industry standard.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Haha Chutney that is what I thought too but just for the sake of curiosity, and slight paranoia, I was going to try to not freeze these.

Anyways, here is a picture of the most beat up and abused stick. He needs some loving. He is cracked, bent, and triangle pressed lol.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46...4/134aba16.jpg

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

So here we go. If the manufacture freezes, which kills the eggs, why are you then freezing again? ;s

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Because you cannot account for beetle infestation post-freeze at the manufacturing site.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Not as bad as I pictured, thanks for the pic Wallbright.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Simple. After leaving the manufacturer's blast freezers they spend a lot of time in various common warehouse humidors and transit where the potential for re-exposure exists.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

haha lol

I read it on the Internet.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

<----- This noob was just taken to school......:l

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Don't believe everything you read, and certainly don't regurgitate it.

Sage advice.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Just to add, I have seen pics of tubo's in which the beetles ate through. So the zip-locs ain't going to stop them.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

:jd

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Would love to see those pics.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I'll try to find them. But in the meantime, here is an article which claims they can chew through aluminum foil.

http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/infores/pubs/pest/hpm8004.pdf

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Didn't see this earlier. No problem at all. I guess it looks like a backwoods? Haha

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Whaa? I found this through Ebsco while searching for tobacco beetle.

I never knew there was a tobacco beetle found with Rameses II. Cool.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Me too.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Cigars are in the fridge awaiting freezer time. :noon :noon :banger

Thanks fellas for all the fast responses. I decided that it would be best to freeze than to run the risk. :Tu

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

im not saying its true becuase this is the interwebs but i did find multipule sources stating the bettles can eat threw, what amounts to, thin soft metals.

http://www.tabacordillera.com/tobacc...pests-mold.htm

http://www.gosmokeshop.com/1298/primer.htm

http://www.cigarsmag.com/articlesIns...p?type=1&ar=24

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/archiv...hp/t-8786.html
(post from silverfox at 01-25-2009, 04: 27 PM)

:sh :tf dont crucify me i found it on the interwebs, if could just be a myth. :cf2

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

There's a huge difference in thickness between the metal-foil discussed in those articles and the walls of a tubo Devan.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

How much thicker are the walls of a tubo though? The RyJ ones I have seem pretty thin but definitely thicker than tin foil.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Who cares how thin the metal is. They're eating through metal. Period. Go chew some tin foil and report back on how easy it is. -(P I remember being a little dumb @## when I was little and doing that. Took me about 1/8th of a bite to learn

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I think you can bite through tin foil relatively easy. :r

I am only kidding. I see your point. It is better to be safe than sorry. I am going to freeze them so that I am 100% positive that the beetles are at least kicked into hibernation mode. The only problem is that I live in Texas and with this heat, 104-106 today I believe with some days up to 110, I have a hard time keeping the house cool much less my cooler of cigars in the closet. I just read the hygros in the humi and they say 74 and 72 so not too bad but I hear the beetles start to be a problem close to 79-80 right?

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I think I read on a website somewhere that they use static electricity to arc their way through metal. I'll try to find that link. Maybe Wikipedia.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Tobacco beetles CANNOT eat through metal. The "foil" used in cigar storage(Tat RC184, RyJ Cazadores, etc.) is paper with a thin metallic coating. I am still waiting for pics of beetles chewing through an aluminum tubo. I have seen many beetle holes in cigars from tubos, not one chewed its way through. :sh

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I've never seen such pictures or claims of this before today.....Not saying it isn't true, but ....I'm pretty damn skeptical.

I'd love to see pictures, as mentioned by several members already.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

This one says something about tin foil and it is from University of Nebraska.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftoct03.htm

I don't know if it is the same beetle?

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I read it on the internet. It must be true.
:rolleyes:

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Well to be fair a University has more credibility than hill billy Joe writing out of his trailer parked in the middle of Texas using beer cans as makeshift antenna to get satellite internet.

Edit: It should be added though that you could be right and this information could be false. I am just saying that at least it is from a University instead of somewhere not as credible.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I'm sorry, to whom exactly is this statement directed?

I would hope you actually read the thread to see where the claims were being made before blindly jumping in with both feet.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

I found a kind of cool study that looked at traces of metal in the mandibles of the cigar beetles. No mention of them chewing THROUGH metal though. I only skimmed it so someone with more time can look but doing a search for the word metal popped up alot of info on traces in their mandibles.

http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10...ND23316635.pdf

Edit:

This article suggests that they cannot eat through metal. (I am not saying the above does, I am just throwing some more articles and research out).

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2083.html

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

If a cigar has been aged for three years, would that be long enough for the eggs to die?

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Thank goodness for Google, now we know everythiing.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Haha well in all fairness though some were from Universities. Which a step up from google but is by no means conclusive.

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

put . . . the . . . shovel . . . down


:2

Re: Tobacco Beetles and Baggies?
 

Haha okay. ;s :banger