Yikes! More temperature woes

[sepia5]

I live in central Florida, but had to go on the road for a week recently. I have window units in my place, which makes it difficult to keep the temperatures down, but if I seal off a room and leave the AC running, I can usually keep temperatures down to about 72-75*, even in the summer months. So when I went on the road, I left my window unit running in my bedroom, w/ the humi's right in front of the AC vent. When I got home last night, I found that the power had gone off at some point during my week away, and the AC didn't kick back on when the power was restored. The temp in my humis was over 90*, and I have no way of knowing whether they were like this for 1 day or 7. It doesn't appear that any beetles have hatched at this point. So my questions are as follows:

1) If no beetles have hatched yet, am I safe, and can I assume the cigars I have are safe from now on?

2) Can temperatures nearing 100* have any other ill effects (aside from the beetle threat) on cigars?

Thanks for any info you can provide me w/.

[oddball]

You might want to freeze your sticks for a while; search and you'll find many past threads about this topic.
It might be time to get a wine cooler. I just got mine a month ago, realizing that leaving the AC on during the workday is just too expensive. And there are plenty of threads about this topic also. Good Luck...

[wrinklenuts]

I've been really worried about temps and humidity regarding my cigars and humidor lately. I was at a La Gloria Cubana event today in KC. I asked Ernesto Carrillo-Perez what he suggests regarding guarding against beetle infestations. He stated that they use a pesticide on the tobacco when it is in bale form. When the cigars are already rolled, they freeze them. He stated that if I'm worried about my cigars or cigars that I'm having shipped in the summer I can just freeze them myself. He told me to put them in the freezer for 4-5 days and then the fridge for about 4 days, then back to my humidor. He told me that this will not hurt the cigars in any way. I also asked what humidity % he keeps his personal cigars. He stated that he likes 65% but 68% is another good % to strive for.

[sirxlaughs]

sounds like a little preventative freezing is in order.

Sometimes they won't show signs of beetles until it's too late. The little bastards could be munching on the insides for a while.

[sepia5]

It sounds like most major cigar companies do all they can to destroy beetles before shipping their product. But what I'm really hoping someone can tell me is whether temperatures in the 90*-100* range can negatively affect the cigars in other ways, even when the humidity stays within the prefered 65-70% range. Anyone?

[BigBen2]

My shipments are sitting on the front porch most of the day before I get home from work.(direct sun) Temp probaly reaches at least 100f. I let them settle, then fridge 1 day, freezer 4 days, one more day in fridge. Let them rest in humi for at least 30 days before smoking. Works for me.

[montecristo#2]

Originally Posted by sirxlaughs

Sometimes they won't show signs of beetles until it's too late. The little bastards could be munching on the insides for a while.

Question: If you are worried about this, would tapping the cigars on a white piece of paper help to determine if you have beetles munching away inside without any visible holes? Can you have a beetle problem inside without any holes at all? You would think something would randomly drive to the surface.

I know if you tap a cigar and black dust like stuff comes out, you have a beetle problem. I will occasionally tap a cigar and see a few specks, I figure that is just loose tobacco, if I ever get a lot of dust, then I would worry about beetles.