Oh no! I found a beetle!

[Tenor CS]

I was playing humidor tetris today, when I opened the small 20-ct humi that holds my ************** (name of manufacturer deleted) sticks. I was dismayed to find a little bug crawling around. I thought to myself "Oh my god, is that a beetle?"

Turned out it was. It looks to be the only infected stick. I tapped it on a piece of white paper and saw the tell-tale droppings dust. I sliced it open and saw the round beetle holes. I also found a larva in the sliced open stick.

I also inspected all of my other humidors, and they look ok.

Now, I'm kind of freaking out, but I'm hoping it was just a one-off.

I have contacted the manufacturer, but I'm not looking for them to "make it right." I know that we are always at risk of beetles, and I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, storage-wise.

I use 65% Heartfelt beads, and we keep the A/C in the house at about 72 degrees.

[dunng]

Time to freeze anything that was in that humidor or if it came in contact wit any other sticks now elsewhere...

[14holestogie]

Get in the habit of freezing everything before placing in the humi.

Since finding my first hole a year ago, that's been my SOP and so far, it appears to be working.

If you could somehow get the temp down under 70* might help, too.

[big a]

These type of threads is the reason i put everything in the freezer 2 weeks ago. Sucks to hear but its good they didn't spread through everything

[XTRazzer]

I've run into this issue recently myself. Temperatures were below 70°F and RH was 70% or less. It does happen. Yeah it sucks big time.

Here's the routine I'm using: 24 hours in the fridge, 48 to 72 hours in the freezer, 24 hours in the fridge, 24 hours at room temperature or in another cooler that will allow gradual transition to room temperature, then back into the humidor. Then wait about a month before smoking those sticks.

Like others said, I'm thinking the freezer time is going to become SOP.

[quote=Tenor CS;344502]I was playing humidor tetris today, when I opened the small 20-ct humi that holds my ************** (name of manufacturer deleted) sticks. I was dismayed to find a little bug crawling around. I thought to myself "Oh my god, is that a beetle?"

Why won't you disclose the manufacturer or the vendor? It might allow others to make a more informed decision about what or where to purchase from in the future.

Not trying to be a smart-ass....just curious why you wouldn't divulge this info.

[Tenor CS]

Originally Posted by Patron

Why won't you disclose the manufacturer or the vendor? It might allow others to make a more informed decision about what or where to purchase from in the future.

I kind of consider it bad form to post a thread with negative info, or "calling out" or bashing a vendor/manufacturer before they have had a chance to respond.

At this point, he has had just a few hours. And it's a Sunday. If a few days pass, and I still have no response, then I might post a thread saying "I told manufacturer X that one of his cigars had beetles and he didn't seem to care."

This manufacturer is good, and a stand-up guy. I don't want to tarnish his reputation.

[TripleF]

Good thing you went trap shooting with us a couple weeks ago, now you can shoot the little beetle cigar-bustin, bastage

[GreekGodX]

The more I see these threads the more I want to start freezing gars.

[Da Klugs]

Temperature is always the culprit on beetle egg hatching.

[borndead1]

I am thinking of putting spiders in all of my humidors.





I keed, I keed! I freeze every cigar I get, no matter which country it's from and no matter if it's 1 cigar or 100 cigars.

[rennD]

How long should you freeze before placing in the humi?

[GreekGodX]

Here's IMO the best thread about cigar freezing.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...light=freezing

Freezing only has the potential to kill adults and larvae. The eggs are able to withstand long stays in freezers. Therefore, freezing only kills the bugs already in your cigars but won't prevent hatching. The key is to keep cigars in a cool temp. This is the reason my cigars will have a new home in the basement this summer.

[sepp]

Originally Posted by Beer Doctor

Freezing only has the potential to kill adults and larvae. The eggs are able to withstand long stays in freezers. Therefore, freezing only kills the bugs already in your cigars but won't prevent hatching. The key is to keep cigars in a cool temp. This is the reason my cigars will have a new home in the basement this summer.

The science says otherwise; the time tables in the link below is from a Japanese study that is very comprehensive on the subject.

Originally Posted by GreekGodX

Here's IMO the best thread about cigar freezing.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...light=freezing

Freezing everything can keep your personal Humis bug free with near 100% efficiency.

edited to add link to original study summary http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aez/41/1/87/_pdf

Originally Posted by sepp

The science says otherwise; the time tables in the link below is from a Japanese study that is very comprehensive on the subject.



Freezing everything can keep your personal Humis bug free with near 100% efficiency.

edited to add link to original study summary http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aez/41/1/87/_pdf

That's a pretty good study! I've been looking for a study like that for awhile. However, there is at least one flaw in the study and some interesting points. The researchers used a strain of tobacco beetle that has been cultured in the lab for 10 years! That is a lot of time for the stock to essentially become "domesticated." What I mean by that is they could have lost some of their natural defense to cold because there was no pressure to retain these defenses. A 1992 study proposed that all studies should be done on stock obtained from the field within two years. They mention that there is no data on the difference b/t lab strains and wild strains but further study is needed to address this before their methods are adopted. It definitely seems that cold (especially -20C) will kill larvae and adults as well as eggs under their methods.

If I ever see a beetle in my cigars I will definitely freeze them but until then I'll follow the recommendation made by the authors (Imai and Haruda, 2006). I'll make sure my humi doesn't go above 18C. They showed that anything lower than 18C disrupts their life cycle so any eggs already in the cigars will not hatch.

Sucks you had an infestation Tenor! I was lucky enough never to have an infestation last year even though my humi rose over 18C many times last summer. This year the humi goes to the basement. Hopefully you've isolated your bugs and have no more problems!

[Don Fernando]

freeze them Christian (the cigars, not the vendor)

[SmokinApe]

Not sure if it is bashing or rep-tarnishing... I see it as giving the community the opportunity to check their stash from the same vendor...

Given most of us generally by from retailers not manufacturers it is probably pretty easy to narrow down a list...

[Tenor CS]

If anybody wants to know who the manufacturer was, PM me and I'll gladly tell you.

[bobarian]