Tobacco beetles


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Almost sorry I started this discussion, as you all are making me nervous about never freezing my cigars.

Guess I have just been really lucky in 15 years and untold many cigars, that I have never had a problem.

Odds are that eventually that luck will run out.

Problem is that I share a refrigerator and freezer with about 7 other people here at the veteran's home, so there is little available space, and I highly doubt that the freezer goes anywhere near minus 20 Celsius.

Thankfully the facility is very well climate controlled, and my room has its own heating and air conditioning with its own thermostat, so my temperature never gets above about 68deg, which should help

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I had a box of RASCC come from a popular Swiss vendor with live beetles in the bottom layer of cigars.  As others have said, just because boxes are frozen at export doesn't mean they can't become infested somewhere else in the chain of custody.  If beetles are hatching after cigars are being freeze-treated at home, then that person didn't freeze them for a long enough time, or they are storing treated cigars with un-treated cigars.  

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No tobacco beetles but I just recently discovered wood mites in two recently acquired boxes of Monte 2s. Caused a mini heart attack until I realized they were wood mites and not tobacco beetles. 1 day in the fridge, 2 days in the freezer, and then 1 day in the fridge again seems to have taken care of them. 

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On 8/16/2021 at 3:59 AM, Nino said:

I can help you out ...

 

      *The fowl creatures :mad:  Rats of the tobacco world...:no:

 

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I know for a fact all gets officially into Spain has been frozen. I am also in the camp of having not seen a beetle, but that’s not statistically significant and before 2005 (to reference Prez’s point in time) I was just stealing off my grandad’s and my father’s humis…

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  • 1 year later...

Does anyone have the proper instructions for freezing please? (Zip lock? Individually/together? Freeze whole humidor or how do we prevent the hunidors itself from spreading the beetles?) Etc And does it damage the cigars?

Thanks so much!

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So far nothin on my end, tho I do keep everything at 62-63rh and 65 farenheight. I also out of paranoia have a special tupperdor to store all my MINSAP boxes separate from the main flock. 

literally have had nightmares about this before tho 😂

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This is like where parents tell their children " There's no monster under your bed" but they're lying...😳

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9 hours ago, eggtimer said:

Does anyone have the proper instructions for freezing please? (Zip lock? Individually/together? Freeze whole humidor or how do we prevent the hunidors itself from spreading the beetles?) Etc And does it damage the cigars?

Thanks so much!

There is a popular gray market seller that had an issue last summer with beetles. I’m not buying much but have started to freeze everything I get. It’s easy insurance given the oddities of Cuba and supply chain from vendors that are not directly licensed by HSA. 

Google or the search option here can give you more details, but simple approach is to put your box in a ziploc in the fridge for about 12 hours. (The larvae could be on the box if they are on a wrapper) Then to your freezer for a minimum of 24 but a few days longer is fine. A quick tour of The fridge to warm up and you are done. 
Lots of info out there on the temps and time needed to kill the bugs at their various stages. I know my freezer hits 0f. 24 hours is plenty for me. But I usually go 48, especially with farm rolls. 
given current investor prices, it makes sense to me now. I never used to freeze. I do now. 

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22 hours ago, bpegler11 said:

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If you’re interested, here’s the science behind freezing times to kill tobacco beetles.


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This. 

And yes, like the monster under your bed they can lie dormant for a very long time and then come out when the temp and humidity are high enough. 

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6 hours ago, Rhinoww said:

This. 

And yes, like the monster under your bed they can lie dormant for a very long time and then come out when the temp and humidity are high enough. 

I'm having a hard time finding how long the beetles themselves can survive while dormant. I do see some references to the eggs surviving for "many months" while dormant. Basically if you always keep your temps below 66°F the eggs at least should remain dormant until they die within a year. 

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