Beetle Outbreak!

[Chingas]

You're right about the coin and the drawers. Only suggestion I can give is spend half as much as you would on smokes and put the other half towards a storage solution that works better than your current. Weather a wine cooler, an ac in a small room or whatever else may keep the outbreak from reacurring.

[Savor the Stick]

Originally Posted by akumushi

If you've seen termite poop, imagine that only much smaller and finer, like a fine, dark brown dirt, and you have beetle poop. If you suspect beetles are working on a cigar, tap it foot down on a piece of white paper. If that fine black powder comes sprinkling out, then you've got a big problem. The holes look like someone went at your cigar with a dentists' drill.

@ Moses, yes the first thing I noticed was the tell-tale beetle $hit at the bottom of my humi last week when I was putting some recent acquisitions at the bottom. I tried to dismiss it as paranoia, but then the other day I was looking for some smokes to pack up for our 4th of July weekend trip and I found a couples sticks with several holes in them. That was enough for me to give them all the freeze treatment.

As far as conditions go, the humidity is fine, I have a brand new, recently calibrated hygro and HCM beads so the humidor stays pegged at 65%. Temperature is another story. Summers in Southern California are hot and most houses on the coast don't have central air, so as long as I'm too broke for a vinotemp, the temperature is out of my control, and it isn't pretty. The coolest room in the house is at 75* and by the heat of summer it will be in the low 80's inside my humi. I've used the same humidor for almost 3 years and this is my first outbreak, so I guess I'm actually lucky. Been doing a lot of trading lately, so I guess the little buggers hitched a ride in a flat rate box

I have always avoided freezing cause I'm lazy, impatient and I was worried about ruining my cigars, but now that I've had to do my whole collection, it'll be a no brainer to do a quick freeze on all future purchases and trades.

Ouch! Sorry you got hit.
Feel for you buddy, sorry this happened to you.

Temp killed you. I went through a summer in Temecula, CA (Desert) and even with air conditioner going I would still edge into the low 80's inside. I never got Beetles!--Here is what I did--I put everything into the Big Igloo coolers---several layers of towels, I don't want the moisture on the cigars, ice (blue gel) packs on top of the towels-I changed the towels and the cold packs every morning and evening....what a pain...but no buggies munching on my stuff.
maybe you can work something out like that for 3 1/2 months of the summer. It worked for me.

---You do have to be careful and watch for mold---too much moisture...but I would rather have mold then beetles. Oh I never got mold on anything that summer.

Best of luck!

[bsmokin]

Originally Posted by Savor the Stick

I went through a summer in Temecula, CA (Desert) ...

Temecula, CA!? That must have been an awesome place to live. Just curious, what did you do there?

Sorry to hear about the beetles man. Good luck with squashing the problem

[Ferrari5180]

Fortunately, I never have gotten beetles, even though my humidor is usually at 76 F and 74% since it gets really humid here in Montreal. However, I have heard some people getting them at lower temperatures that would seem normal for some. As for solutions, some people vaccume their humidors, others seal them and freeze them all together, humidor included. Others use distilled water cleaners. Some go as far as to replace the humidor. All I can say is good luck to you sir.

[Stinky]

Be careful what you do to your humidors and/or cigars! ! !
I can recommend a number of books written by credible cigar-industry experts.

Temperature is what causes beetles to hatch. NOT humidity. Keep your cigars under 75-degrees Fahrenheit, and you'll be fine. Most manufactures treat or freeze their cigars before they go to market. Cuba has been known to skip these steps in the last decade. I would suggest that you freeze your Cuban cigars.

Freezing:
Take these Three Steps . . . you do NOT need to refrigerate cigars before placing in the sub-zero freezer! That's just a waste of time. You DO, however, need to move cigars into the refrigerator after the minimum 72-hours in a hard freeze. To kill the eggs, the deep-freeze must be at least 10-below zero Fahrenheit. Make sure your freezer is set that cold! Then, at least 24-hours in the 40-degrees of your refrigerator. Then 24-hours at room temperature.

MOST IMPORTANT: Seal your cigars in a zip-lock baggie. Suck as much of the air out of the baggie as you can. . . use a straw. I saw a guy tape a straw to his shop-vac and did a fine job of removing the air! Freezing can dry out your cigars if you're not careful. That is why you need to remove most of the air from around the cigars. Do not open the baggie until they have reached room temperature (after the day in the refrigerator).

Reconditioning the Humidor:
DO - NOT - FREEZE ! ! That's nuts! Tobacco Beetles (Lacioderma)do NOT (will not) live in or on Spanish Cedar! The reason we use Spanish Cedar is the natural oils of that species of wood have a high acidic content that naturally repels beetles. They hate that stuff!

Vacuum your empty humidor after you "scuff sand" the interior surfaces. Use a very fine (at least 100 grit) sandpaper. You don't have to sand much. . . just enough to remove the oxidized wood fibers on the surface. Easy! A light sanding will refresh the Spanish Cedar and you'll enjoy the refreshed aroma. Blow out the dust (with a can of air) or vacuum clean.

Don't be a fool! ! ! Do NOT introduce anything to the Spanish Cedar! ! ! Only use distilled water to re-hydrate Spanish Cedar. I like to use a very fine spray to moisten the interior and close it for 10 to 15 minutes. Open it and you'll see the wood looks dry. Repeat to suit your humidity needs. Once you re-moisten the interior, place your cigars inside immediately.

Tobacco Beetle:
Lacioderma worms lay tiny (itty bitty) eggs which hatch when the temperature gets over 76-degrees F. It's been said that ALL tobacco has some of these microscopic eggs. The DEEP freezing cracks the eggs, they die and they cannot hatch. IF or when the tobacco beetle egg hatches, they start out like a worm aka Larva. It's like a tiny white bug. The worm eats the tobacco and begins looking for a water source. (guess eating all that tobacco makes them thirsty!) They quickly evolve into the adult version and look like a tiny (as small as 1/16th of an inch) beetle. Years ago, after my first experience, I found some in the water dish. . . they died (or drowned) because my water always has a mix of Propylene Glycol.

Hold the cigar vertical (straight up) and tapping the foot on white paper is a good test. (like old cigarette smokers used to do) I say the "poop" looks like fine coffee grounds. Don't feel too bad if you have beetles. The finest tobacconists in the world have shared the experience. Lacioderma are part of the challenge when storing tobacco.

The 'purists' say to destroy (and trash) any cigar with a beetle hole. If it ain't too bad and the hole is near the foot, I'd just smoke it (right away), but then . . . I'm Stinky!

[Chingas]

Stinky. Thank you for that invaluable information. Much appreciated.

[Pass]

I wish I had had this info BEFORE I started freezing my sticks. The articles I read said nothing about sucking the air out of the bags... and I wasted time acclimating them in the fridge (not that that part hurts). Hopefully, though, my sticks don't dry out.


...The silver lining is that I'm learning just how much of a noob I really am. LOL.

[akumushi]

Update, my smokes are out of the freezer a week or so and smoking fine.
The whole process isn't very hard and doesn't harm the cigars, although it
takes more time than my impatient self would like to wait. All in all, I'd rather
make sure none of the little bastiges make it into my humi alive, so it looks
like I'm now a "freezer."

[stewshi]

Is this a sticky somewhere and if not it should be.

Originally Posted by Stinky

Be careful what you do to your humidors and/or cigars! ! !
I can recommend a number of books written by credible cigar-industry experts.

Temperature is what causes beetles to hatch. NOT humidity. Keep your cigars under 75-degrees Fahrenheit, and you'll be fine. Most manufactures treat or freeze their cigars before they go to market. Cuba has been known to skip these steps in the last decade. I would suggest that you freeze your Cuban cigars.

Freezing:
Take these Three Steps . . . you do NOT need to refrigerate cigars before placing in the sub-zero freezer! That's just a waste of time. You DO, however, need to move cigars into the refrigerator after the minimum 72-hours in a hard freeze. To kill the eggs, the deep-freeze must be at least 10-below zero Fahrenheit. Make sure your freezer is set that cold! Then, at least 24-hours in the 40-degrees of your refrigerator. Then 24-hours at room temperature.

MOST IMPORTANT: Seal your cigars in a zip-lock baggie. Suck as much of the air out of the baggie as you can. . . use a straw. I saw a guy tape a straw to his shop-vac and did a fine job of removing the air! Freezing can dry out your cigars if you're not careful. That is why you need to remove most of the air from around the cigars. Do not open the baggie until they have reached room temperature (after the day in the refrigerator).

Reconditioning the Humidor:
DO - NOT - FREEZE ! ! That's nuts! Tobacco Beetles (Lacioderma)do NOT (will not) live in or on Spanish Cedar! The reason we use Spanish Cedar is the natural oils of that species of wood have a high acidic content that naturally repels beetles. They hate that stuff!

Vacuum your empty humidor after you "scuff sand" the interior surfaces. Use a very fine (at least 100 grit) sandpaper. You don't have to sand much. . . just enough to remove the oxidized wood fibers on the surface. Easy! A light sanding will refresh the Spanish Cedar and you'll enjoy the refreshed aroma. Blow out the dust (with a can of air) or vacuum clean.

Don't be a fool! ! ! Do NOT introduce anything to the Spanish Cedar! ! ! Only use distilled water to re-hydrate Spanish Cedar. I like to use a very fine spray to moisten the interior and close it for 10 to 15 minutes. Open it and you'll see the wood looks dry. Repeat to suit your humidity needs. Once you re-moisten the interior, place your cigars inside immediately.

Tobacco Beetle:
Lacioderma worms lay tiny (itty bitty) eggs which hatch when the temperature gets over 76-degrees F. It's been said that ALL tobacco has some of these microscopic eggs. The DEEP freezing cracks the eggs, they die and they cannot hatch. IF or when the tobacco beetle egg hatches, they start out like a worm aka Larva. It's like a tiny white bug. The worm eats the tobacco and begins looking for a water source. (guess eating all that tobacco makes them thirsty!) They quickly evolve into the adult version and look like a tiny (as small as 1/16th of an inch) beetle. Years ago, after my first experience, I found some in the water dish. . . they died (or drowned) because my water always has a mix of Propylene Glycol.

Hold the cigar vertical (straight up) and tapping the foot on white paper is a good test. (like old cigarette smokers used to do) I say the "poop" looks like fine coffee grounds. Don't feel too bad if you have beetles. The finest tobacconists in the world have shared the experience. Lacioderma are part of the challenge when storing tobacco.

The 'purists' say to destroy (and trash) any cigar with a beetle hole. If it ain't too bad and the hole is near the foot, I'd just smoke it (right away), but then . . . I'm Stinky!

[akumushi]

The official how to freeze sticky is here.

[JohnE1000]

I heard 3 stories like this in the past week alone. I am nervous about my stash, and I am planing on freezing procedure....it will long some time to complete though

[Savor the Stick]

Originally Posted by bsmokin

Temecula, CA!? That must have been an awesome place to live. Just curious, what did you do there?

Sorry to hear about the beetles man. Good luck with squashing the problem

I was there from 03 to the beginning of 09. I was pest control specialist for a 47 acre Conference center.

It was interesting.