Got Beetles.

[miki]

I went into my humi to get a cigar and I noticed a little dust and took out the cigars and saw one of new cigars I bought this week had a beetle hole in it.
I took out all the cigars and it seems that there is only a hole in just the one cigar. I then took all the cigars and put some in zip locks and the rest in a tupperware container and put some saran wrap under the lid when I closed it for extra seal. I guess I leave it overnight and then put it in the fridge for a day and then in the humi. From now on I will have to freeze cigars when I get them, I learned my lesson.

Am I being to paranoid for freezing all the cigars even if there are no holes in them and how long do I have to leave them in the humi after the fridge before I can smoke them?

I hate these things

[D. Generate]

I found a beetle in a cigar my mom brought back from Virginia for me. I put every cigar in that humi in ziplocs and froze them. That might be overkill, and some wiser gorillas might have better answers, but I figure better safe than sorry.

And I never noticed a problem or flavor difference in the cigars that got frozen.

Sorry to hear about it, but I think at some point or another, everyone will encounter a beetle. Those bastards.

[Charles]

That is just too frightening for words.

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by miki

I went into my humi to get a cigar and I noticed a little dust and took out the cigars and saw one of new cigars I bought this week had a beetle hole in it....
...I guess I leave it overnight and then put it in the fridge for a day and then in the humi...
...Am I being to paranoid for freezing all the cigars even if there are no holes in them and how long do I have to leave them in the humi after the fridge before I can smoke them?

I hate these things

From what I've read on the subject it seems that you should leave them in the freezer for about three days, but I'm told most freezers don't get cold enough...I know I can get my freezer at home down between -10° to -20° so I would think that would be cold enough but I'm not an expert at this...afterwards you should leave them in the fridge for about 24 hours to let them gradually come up to more normal temperatures before putting them back in your humidor...I've read that this will kill the eggs and any beetles present, and that it's okay to smoke the cigars then...here's a link to an article about this subject...you might want to go back to the beginning of the article as it's quite informative...

Handling a beetle outbreak

[mosesbotbol]

I am sorry to read about what happened. I had to freeze my whole collection once, and I didn't notice much difference after freezing, but I bet some of the more critical smokers whom seem to be able to write a two page review of cigar would tell the difference.

Not sure if others did this, but I put my humidor in the freezer too. I lost too many cigars to take chances.

[altbier]

Yes, you are being over paranoid by freezing all the cigars you buy. All cigars have beetle eggs, just a fact of life. As long as your humidor stays cool, the beetles wont hatch. If you let it get too warm, then you have a beetle problem. Freezing will not kill the eggs.

[SeanGAR]

Everybody has a different opinion on the impact of freezing on viability of beetles, their larva (caterpillar) and eggs.

I've seen people suggest your freezer will not get to -40° which is supposedly required and supposedly the temperature of commercial freezers.

Well commercial cold stores (freezers are a different animal) are not at - 40° .... too $$ and too much maintenance. -28 °F is more like it. Display freezers in supermarkets are about the same as your freezer at home. Pedantic semantics: a freezer freezes the food, a cold storage is used to store previously frozen food.

I am biased, but I trust publications from scientists.

"Items can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer (16 days at 36ºF, 7 days at 25ºF or 32ºF for four to seven days) to kill all stages."

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/...tte_beetle.htm

I use our walk in freezer which is at -20 °C (-10 °F), slightly colder than your home freezer typically is (-8 to -10 °C). Nonetheless, from this IFAS publication all stages of the bug are killed at -4 °C.

People who believe that really cold temperatures are needed to kill the bugs and their eggs are misguided. You want something to live longer you freeze faster at lower temperatures. You want something to die, you freeze at as close to -4 °C as possible ... the ice crystals are larger and phyically disrupt membranes etc. MORE than at lower temperatures.

[mobsix]

Yeah!, What he said!

Disrupter crystals sounds a little like StarTrek to me but what do I know. I hate science.

Miki, my condolences for your loss. I hope you have caught this in time to prevent a cigar holocost. We have all seen the pictures of the Padrons riddled with beetles. I still suffer from night terrors at the thought that one of my four humidors will be infected, especially because I tend to move cigars from one to the other humi with regularity. Right now I have one humi that I cant seem to get the temperature down below 72 degrees and it literally keeps me up at night. I keep my Montes in that one...

If there is anythign a BOTL can do for you please let me know...
-Matthew

[miki]

Originally Posted by mobsix

Yeah!, What he said!

Disrupter crystals sounds a little like StarTrek to me but what do I know. I hate science.

Miki, my condolences for your loss. I hope you have caught this in time to prevent a cigar holocost. We have all seen the pictures of the Padrons riddled with beetles. I still suffer from night terrors at the thought that one of my four humidors will be infected, especially because I tend to move cigars from one to the other humi with regularity. Right now I have one humi that I cant seem to get the temperature down below 72 degrees and it literally keeps me up at night. I keep my Montes in that one...

If there is anythign a BOTL can do for you please let me know...
-Matthew

Luckily it was one cigar that I bought this week. No holes in the other cigars so that was nice to see.

[kvm]

Sounds like you might have lucked out with just the 1 stick. I just started keeping all my new arrivals in a seperate humi because of beetle damage I've spotted at 2 local b&ms lately.

[kenstogie]

The hole was most likley from a beetle (Lasioderma Serricorne) that already went through his four stages
-egg (one week to hatch or longer dormant)
-larvae (when they do most of there eating/destroying)
-pupa (just like a catipillar)
-adult (he/she eats his way out so he could fly away and procriate)
egg to adult 2 1/2 months

one male or one female is no big deal, but a couple of them, some moonlight, a big backseat, a little booze, no "glove" and the fun begins, so to speak.

Unfortunatly a female typically lays 25-100 eggs and it is in this stage most of them make it to your humi. Then your humi gets warm 75 dgrz f and they hatch. I am pretty sure they are into the free love incest thing, brothers and sisters and cousins etc.

Lets do some conservative population math shall we?
25x25=625 more eggs (312males/312females)
3 months later...
312x25= 7800 more eggs etc
you get the idea

Freezing is the best defense or offense after you notice them. From my research it will/can kill the larvae/adults but not always the eggs. Some freeze 2x.

I think I need a life.

[Jkbd33]

I just find a beetle holes in one of my LGC's that I just got from famous a 5 pack. I cut it and I always smell them when after I cut them and I noticed 3 holes. I was like oh no, I stuck everything in the freezer. I have a box of ERDM coming its making me wonder if I should freeze them or not. The lgc mentioned was the 1st time I ever had a beetle.

[mosesbotbol]

Just got a box of Upmann No 2’s, and took out one cigar to put in my desktop humidor yesterday. The rest of the box I brought to a friend’s house that has a 100+ box unit. I opened my desktop humidor today in anticipation of smoking the Upmann, and noticed very small beetles walking on the top of the cigar. They just must’ve hatched, as there were no holes and they were smaller than when I had them about 8 years ago. I took out everything; zip locked them, vacuumed the humidor and put the cigars in the freezer.

Should I be mad at the vendor? I am not going to name names publicly, but I am disappointed to say the least. I just ordered two more boxes from this source, yikes! I am quite mad & embarrassed that I put my friend’s collection at jeopardy also. I think if he freeze’s the Upmann box tonight he should be all set. My room isn’t very warm and the Royal Crown unit is empty of water.

From this point on, I am freezing every box as I get them!

[SeanGAR]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Should I be mad at the vendor?

Not much they can do other than offer a replacement for damaged sticks. Beetles are part of the cigar smoking experience. Its most likely they hatched somewhere in transit and your vendor has no idea they had a problem. Freeze and keep your eyes open.

[larryinlc]

You guys are scaring me. Of all the years I've been smoking, I never once gave beetle holes a thought. Never noticed any though. Now, due to this thread, I'll have to go home tonight and examine every cigar in the flock for bugs. Good thing I have a special beetle loupe for the procedure. Since I discovered this forum, I've become, as my frind would say, paranoic. Is there such a thing as stogie insurance?

Larry