ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

we have all gotten cigars with bore holes ... doesnt count ... what i would like to know is ... have you had beetles damage your cigars ... after you bought them .

jf your answer is ... yes .

secondary question (you need not answer ) ... do you now freeze your cigars ... yes or no .

final note : this is not a "do you freeze your cigars " thread for the masses (lord knows we have all read enough of these ) . the only people i want to here answer this question are those (like myself) who have seen the little horrors live .

thanks all
derrek

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Is this a recent happening, Derrek?

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

I had a beetle-drilled cigar once. It was a Cusano 18 paired maduro (or something like that) that I ordered with some stuff I got from a shop in AZ.
Seems to me I may have gotten another one along the way, but I can't remember.
So that's the size of my infestation. I've just gone ahead and decided to live with it. I've never frozen a cigar in my life, unless you count the ones I smoked while I was shoveling snow.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Yes I have had them and I did start freezing cigars, but do not do so any more. I have a cabinet now instead of a desktop and keeping cigars in their box mitigates some of the widespread damage. Make sure to not get your environment too humid or hot as both will hatch the beetles.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

I had one case of known beetle activity after they arrived in my humidor from CCs (several from NCs but in the long distant past). When you catch the little bugger in the act, it's a big hint.

If I am buying cigars that are not more than 2 years old (an arbitrary number), then I freeze. Old stock I do not freeze because I worry about potential wrapper damage and figure if they haven't eaten these sticks yet ...

My humidors get to 80* and sometimes above during the summer. I've not had a breakout in years and never from a box that I froze.

Knowing my luck, guess what I'll find when I get back from vacation :)

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

***slowly backs out of thread***

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

They can stay dormant for years from what I read.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

About a decade ago I was smoking a Partagas Lusi on a warm summer day with a loose draw. As time went by, the draw got easier. After about a third way through I took the band off to find a larva squirming around under the band had make a gash in the cigar slightly larger than itself, maybe 0.5 x 1.25 cm. Got rid of his ass and if I covered up the hole, the cigar smoked fine and so I did. Looking in the bottom of the cooler I found evidence of an infestation so I put a towel over the top of the cigars for insulation and then covered the towels with dry ice and shut the cooler up for 24 hours. Don't remember what the temperature got down to, but those cigars were fine afterwards. I have never frozen cigars since.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Of course. I was merely stating a boundary below which I will definitely freeze. I typically freeze anything from a vendor or private party for whom I do not know the details of their storage.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Once that I can recall, although it might have been twice.

The one that made the difference for me... I'm not really sure it was an infestation, I think it might have been a single beetle. Someone gave me an NC, can't recall the brand anymore other than it was something I had never had before nor since. Anyway, it was fine when they gave it to me. I put in a humidor and a few months later, I pulled it out and it had a hole or two and it was obvious where the beetle had eaten the wrapper leaf up the side of the cigar.

Never found the beetle and couldn't find any evidence of any other cigars being munched on, but I froze everything, vacuumed the humidor and all the boxes, all that crap.

Been freezing all incoming cigars ever since.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

I had a small break out ruined one or two of my cigars but I caught all three of those buggers the found a hot death. I don't freeze my cigars never have and not sure I ever will. I have heard plenty of great stories of people freezing their sticks just not something I'm going to do.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

tom

no not recent ... 2002 and 2005 .

2002 ... in one of my coolers(got to see them live and moving) ... lost a few monty#4's a few fonseca cosacos and a few boli cg's .

2005 ... returned from cuba ... box purchases were okay ... a plastic baggie with 4 or 5 singles were good when i put them in there ... when i got home a few had bore holes ... didnt see anything alive but it is hard to ignore that kind of evidence .

just trying to think of a thread to post ... that hasnt been asked a thousand times before :) .

derrek

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

In the late 90's I had a bunch of Vintage RyJ's from the old Holco Rohr days that got hot one summer and several little buggers hatched. They were contained in a certain small cooler but to be safe everything went into the freezer.

That was a learning lesson on storage & temps. Since then I have not put too many cigars in the freezer and I haven't had very many more hatching incidents. Just an isolated bugger now and then. EVERYTHING I buy in the warmer months goes into a quarantine period before I migrate to the rest of my storage.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Yes, lost 2 boxes of Boli Gold Medals and some OR Mag 50's. I Freeze everything now.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Never had beetles

Don't freeze

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Yes, I had beetles show up in some cigars I bought from a little shop in Ybor City. I freeze everything now.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Hey Derrek! I've had one cigar that was damaged after I took possession. A Pepin Blue if I recall. A couple of others I'm not sure about, both Cuban. One I strongly suspect took at least partial damage after I received it, the other probably got munched on before but made me suspicious.

Each case was limited to one cigar, so I've never experienced what I'd consider an infestation. The Pepin had a beetle going to town on it, one Cuban I think had a beetle as well (that one was a while back and my memory may be faulty) and the third if I remember correctly had damage and larva in it.

No, I don't nor have I ever frozen a cigar.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

I have had a beetle outbreak but caught it early and only lost three cigars. I didn't see the beetle thought but I isolated the box until I felt safe.

I don't freeze cigars but I do keep my cigars in a cooler set to 60 degrees F. No problems in last five years. Coolers for the win.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Derrick, you can read my story here http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=49721 Starts on #18 with pics.

To answer your question, if I order online or receive sticks from someone I don't know that well......yep I freeze them.

Re: ever had a beetle infestation ???
 

Glad I found this thread as searches for recent posts in other sites came up dry.

I was wondering if the manufacturing and handling of the tobacco and cigars had changed since the early 2000's as that is where most of the 'beetle' threads date.

Just picked up a large cabinet humi and didn't know if I should start freezing. I keep the humidity fairly low (66rH) but the problem with Florida is that the temperature is tied to the A/C. So it ranges from 71 at night to 81 during the day.

Will those little bastards hatch in the 66rH range with a high temp or would that keep them under control?

Also, does anyone know if the big web retailers have any sort of special handling in their processes to ensure no infestations?

I really didn't want to start freezing (wife has issues with cigars and putting them in the freezer would add to the list :sl ) but if it is still an issue I may have to.