74 Degrees?

[mosesbotbol]

The temp swings can screw things up too, so be warned on that one. Make sure you back the humidity off if you keeping them in warmer conditions such as you are. I would maintain 55-62% RH if I was going above 72 degrees.

Freeze your cigars before putting in your humidor helps prevent beetle attacks too. There's plenty of threads on that subject.

[Jechelman]

Originally Posted by dunng

Looks like blank bands... http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/products.asp?cat=19

That's right. Handy for labeling cigars with anything you want to remember about them like date acquired, where bought, who sent it, etc. Mainly used when I have multiples of the same stick but with different dates.

Frank

[Boston_Dude05]

Looks like the consensus is 74% is too high generally, but it depends on some factors like RH% also and how long you keep it at 74%.

[carni]

i am in fla and good luck if you want the inside of your humi to be 68 degrees. your elcetric bill could clip your mortgage pmt. and no basements in mid-south fla.

i keep a close eye, no sun hits the humi, and keep it in the coolest room in the house. i wouldn't flirt with 74 though, i try for 72.

[jdtexan]

must freeze if you can't control the temp

[CEC_Tech]

My humi's stabilize at about 80 degrees with 65%RH. I've had no problems. I do however, check my cigars regularly ( I can't help but look at them every other day) also, if anything even remotely resembles a beetle hole, I make that my smoke for the day........and/or the weekend.

Freezing when I suspect a beetle is present is also necessary, but I rarely ever do.

[Jechelman]

Originally Posted by CEC_Tech

My humi's stabilize at about 80 degrees with 65%RH. I've had no problems. I do however, check my cigars regularly ( I can't help but look at them every other day) also, if anything even remotely resembles a beetle hole, I make that my smoke for the day........and/or the weekend.

Freezing when I suspect a beetle is present is also necessary, but I rarely ever do.

Your situation sounds very similar to mine until the beetle outbreak, 65% RH and under 80 degrees. I had very rarely seen a beetle hole and never in more than one cigar. Luckily this time I opened my main humi to get a few sticks to take with me on a trip. I had been in it less than 24 hours before without seeing anything wrong. In that short period they hit about 25 of my best cigars. Had they waited a day until I was out of town they might have damaged 100-200 or even more.

I had never wanted to go to the trouble of freezing but after this attack I freeze everything going in my main humi or my cooladors.

Frank

[montecristo#2]

This has come up multiple times in the past. I did a lot of research on this topic when I first started getting into cigars.

From what I have read, beetles can occur at any temperature above 65F! I have not found any information on the chances of a beetle outbreak with respect to temperature (for example, 70F versus 75F versus 80F). Although, from what it seems, prolonged exposure to high temps can result in problems.

So in short, will it definitely cause a problem, probably not, is there a chance, yes. I would probably check my humidors once a day if you cannot regulate the temperature and do not freeze your collection.

I have read a lot of things about people going years without ever having a beetle outbreak, then you read something like Frank's story and it scares the out of you (sorry to hear about you outbreak Frank, they even ate the Tatuajes ).

Some retailers freeze cigars when they are received, others do not. Supposedly, the Fuentes freeze every cigar they produce, so does Habanos SA (at least in the last two years or so).

I never want to see a beetle outbreak, so I freeze every cigar I put into my humidors. It is a pain at first, but pretty easy to maintain if you freeze stuff when it comes in. If I plan on smoking something within a couple of weeks (for example stuff I get in trades/PIF), then I just store them in a temporary container.

Honestly, I do not believe freezing is 100% either, so I still check my collection every couple of days during the hot summer months.

[johnnybot3000]

Originally Posted by Jechelman

I hate to be an alarmist but here is what can happen when your humi gets too hot.





Beetles hit about 25 of my sticks when the temp went up a few weeks ago. Of course the have good taste and went for some of my best. I check my humi every day so the little SOB's worked fast.

My strong suggestion is that if you can't keep your cigars in the low 70's or lower you should freeze everything.

Good luck!

Farnk

I had no idea that much damage could be done in one day to a cigar (second pic). Something to think about...

[Jechelman]

Originally Posted by johnnybot3000

I had no idea that much damage could be done in one day to a cigar (second pic). Something to think about...

They may have been chomping on that second one longer, don't really know. It was one of the few in cello so maybe they got trapped in there and pigged out.

Frank

[nismo350z]

wow, well thanks for all the information, I'm down to my normal 68 degrees since the weather got kind of crappy again, I'm going to move my smokes to the basment once the temp gets hotter though I do not want any beetles in my stash. That would be awful. Sorry to hear about your loss also frank.

Thanks again guys.