Cross Contamination

[sacmore21]

This is more of a general comment/question. Is there a major concern over cross contamination of tobacco beetles between humidors? The reason I ask is that recently on here it appears that several people are having beetle outbreaks. This rash of outbreaks started me thinking about what risk there is when we do the various bombs, pifs, trades, etc.

I've never personally come across any issues with beetles, and I'll pray to God that I don't. However, I also never had sticks coming in from several different peoples humidors either. So, should I be worried, or am I just paranoid? Do the beetles always exist in all of our cigars, and it's just a matter of whether conditions are perfect for them to hatch?

Any thoughts on this would be appreicated.

[freakygar]

Great post. I am looking forward to what the experts say about this.

All the best,
Al

[jloutlaw]

I would inspect all incoming cigars for obvious signs. You might consider isolating for a few days. Cross contamination is possible. Many freeze all cigars before storing them. I don't freeze, but I store mine in a wine cooler at 65 degrees. You are correct to be concerned.

[SilverFox]

I now isolate and freeze all incoming before they go into the Humi.

Anybody that has got Cigars from me they have all been pre beetle frozen so should be safe. But your not going to hurt anything by giving them another shot in the freezer.

Just my

[68TriShield]

Not from humidor to humidor unless you move cigars from one to the other.

[tfar]

I think it is important to not only freeze the cigars but also the cigar boxes. It is possible to put cigars that are alright into contaminated boxes. If you have a vino or cooler you are most likely storing them in boxes. After two beetle outbreaks that were discovered so early that no damage occurred, I have gone to freezing all incoming and all boxes.

In my experience even multiple freezing does not affect the taste of the cigars. Just de-frost them gently.

Till

[tchariya]

send me all your cigars and I will test each one separately for beetles. This will require me to burn down each one individually and check for popping beetle carcasses and reporting back to you at the end of my testing.

[Razorhog]

might be a good idea to put new cigars in a holding humi and then transfer out after some time. Hmmm that means I need a big humi