Quote:
Originally Posted by sepp
The science says otherwise; the time tables in the link below is from a Japanese study that is very comprehensive on the subject.
Freezing everything can keep your personal Humis bug free with near 100% efficiency.
edited to add link to original study summary http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aez/41/1/87/_pdf |
That's a pretty good study! I've been looking for a study like that for awhile. However, there is at least one flaw in the study and some interesting points. The researchers used a strain of tobacco beetle that has been cultured in the lab for 10 years! That is a lot of time for the stock to essentially become "domesticated." What I mean by that is they could have lost some of their natural defense to cold because there was no pressure to retain these defenses. A 1992 study proposed that all studies should be done on stock obtained from the field within two years. They mention that there is no data on the difference b/t lab strains and wild strains but further study is needed to address this before their methods are adopted. It definitely seems that cold (especially -20C) will kill larvae and adults as well as eggs under their methods.
If I ever see a beetle in my cigars I will definitely freeze them but until then I'll follow the recommendation made by the authors (Imai and Haruda, 2006). I'll make sure my humi doesn't go above 18C. They showed that anything lower than 18C disrupts their life cycle so any eggs already in the cigars will not hatch.
Sucks you had an infestation Tenor! I was lucky enough never to have an infestation last year even though my humi rose over 18C many times last summer. This year the humi goes to the basement. Hopefully you've isolated your bugs and have no more problems!