The Dreaded...Tobacco Beatles!!!

ztanner25

So I just opened up my humidor today to remember what I have in stock, and think about what I might want to try next. Upon inspecting some of my smokes I realized that I had a potential beetle outbreak. I instantly google'd the subject and decided to freeze all my sticks in ziploc bags for a couple days and then move them to the fridge for 24 hours, followed by returning to the humidor. I don't have any pictures at the moment, due to my quick panic and plan of attack on these little punks. I will post pictures of a few of my sticks that I am pretty confident have a beetle infestation, so that you all can comment on them. Please tell me about any experiences yall have had with tobacco beatles and how you prevented them in the future. I am also unsure of how to clean my humidor well without imparting any harsh odor from cleaning solutions. Should I freeze my entire humidor without the humi device and then just wipe it clean with a wet rag? Any information, help, and experience with these beasts is greatly appreciated!

JCizzle

Luckily I haven't had to deal with beetles yet!

ztanner25

It will be much clearer after I post pictures, but at what point should i deem a cigar unsmokable? Some of them look like they might be infected, but do not have any actual holes, they just have a few tiny bumps.

chrisd56

If the cigars has numerous holes in it you will not get any draw, which means you can not smoke it. One or two holes just try holding your finger over the holes if possible. Beetles hatch from the temperature getting too hot in your humidor. Wipe down the inside with a one part ammonia ten parts water solution if there is a chance any may be hiding in the cracks of your humidor. If there are bumps but no holes the cigars should be ok.

ztanner25

chrisd56:

If the cigars has numerous holes in it you will not get any draw, which means you can not smoke it. One or two holes just try holding your finger over the holes if possible. Beetles hatch from the temperature getting too hot in your humidor.

Wipe down the inside with a one part ammonia ten parts water solution if there is a chance any may be hiding in the cracks of your humidor. If there are bumps but no holes the cigars should be ok.

Thanks for the help! I'm so glad most of my stogies don't have holes, there are only 2 or 3 that have clear holes through the wrapper. So there iis essentially no adverse effect on the cigar unless there is obvious damage to the wrapper?

jship079

you really should of put your cigars in the fridge for 24hrs before they went into the freezer for 72hr and back to the fridge for 24hr. The first 24hr is the same as the last 24 giving your cigars time to acclimate to the temps and draw out some humidity. As far as the humi I never heard of the ammonia thing I sure would not put that *** in my humi. There is a big argument between using vinegar or alcohol (very diluted of course) alot of people just throw the humi in the freezer. I would just wipe it out several times with distiled water letting the wood dry some each time so you dont warp it. If you keep your cigars in the cello and the the Beatles did not have a lot of time to move around you will probably be fine with the beetles not migrating all over the place. To keep them from hatching again keep your rh below 72 and your temp below 78

kuzi16

jship079:

you really should of put your cigars in the fridge for 24hrs before they went into the freezer for 72hr and back to the fridge for 24hr. The first 24hr is the same as the last 24 giving your cigars time to acclimate to the temps and draw out some humidity.

the 24 hours in the fridge before and after the freezer is not a big deal. many brand owners have said you can go right from the freezer to the flame with almost no time between if you need to.

jship079:

As far as the humi I never heard of the ammonia thing I sure would not put that *** in my humi. There is a big argument between using vinegar or alcohol (very diluted of course) alot of people just throw the humi in the freezer. I would just wipe it out several times with distiled water letting the wood dry some each time so you dont warp it. If you keep your cigars in the cello and the the Beatles did not have a lot of time to move around you will probably be fine with the beetles not migrating all over the place. To keep them from hatching again keep your rh below 72 and your temp below 78

if you are worried about the amonia smell in the humidor you can crumple up news paper and put it in there to absorb the smell. it will. i dont think its a big deal though because as tobacco ferments it creates some ammonia. all of our cigars at some point have been fermented. and if you get a cigar that is not done fermenting (they pushed it out too soon) it will taste like ammonia. this all goes away with time otherwise all of our cigars would be gross.


the best advice is to keep that RH between 65% and 70% and the temp around 70.

Nick2021

ztanner, Sorry to hear about your beetle infestation...you did the right thing! I have a pretty big collection of cigars, and now, everything goes into the freezer no matter what...have not had any problems since implementing this policy and have not noticed any drawbacks to this. I had a really bad one in a personal humi while deployed to Iraq...my wife was in the process of transferring cigars when she found the outbreak. The process I utilize is similar to what Kuzi said...I put them straight into the freezer for 3 days (heard some people do 2, but I leave them in for 3 just to be safe), then I put them in the frig for the slow thaw, then back into humi. I've tried putting them straight into the humi (or introducing them to room temperature after the freeze) but noticed they thaw really fast. I'll leave them in the frig for about 8-12 hours. I don't put them in the frig prior to freeze for the exact reasons Kuzi stated, but I do put them in the frig after the freeze for personal preference. I wish you the best of luck in your fight against beetles.

kuzi16

nick, i dont think 3 days is too much at all.
in fact, the warmer your freezer is, the longer they should be in there.
if i am really worried ill take them into my work and throw them in the deep freezer (-10) for a few nights.
i still like to think that the best way to prevent beetles is not to freeze the cigars, but to keep the environment that the cigars are kept in under control.

Nick2021

kuzi16:

nick, i dont think 3 days is too much at all.
in fact, the warmer your freezer is, the longer they should be in there.
if i am really worried ill take them into my work and throw them in the deep freezer (-10) for a few nights.
i still like to think that the best way to prevent beetles is not to freeze the cigars, but to keep the environment that the cigars are kept in under control.

Kuzi, my deep freezer gets to -8 ...how long do you keep your sticks in there (if you freeze them at all?). I probably have an environment which will prevent beetles 64-66 temp / 66% humidity...but that's dependent on the A/C and my wife gets picky on this lol Only thing I can control is the humidity with my set and forget

zeebra

I dont want to hijack a thread or anything, but since I am still a noob to the cigar world, I have a question.

When you guys talk about freezing cigars, do you just put them in the zip lock bag and leave them in there for a few days, take them out and put them in the refrigator to thaw out, then put them in the humi again? Dont the cigars get iced or wet when in the freezer and during the thaw process??

Nick2021

zeebra:

I dont want to hijack a thread or anything, but since I am still a noob to the cigar world, I have a question.

When you guys talk about freezing cigars, do you just put them in the zip lock bag and leave them in there for a few days, take them out and put them in the refrigator to thaw out, then put them in the humi again? Dont the cigars get iced or wet when in the freezer and during the thaw process??

Zeebra,, I'm definitely not an expert on this but I noticed some minor "sweating" on two of my cigar boxes when I pulled them out of the freezer and straight into the humi (I am picky about my cigars so I did monitor it to see what would happen). However, it wasn't anything that would harm the cigars. That's why I put them in the frig after the freeze process to allow for a slower thaw process...not sure this helps, but it has worked for me. Also, I try to remove as much air from the ziplock bags as I can when I put them in the freezer...I just put the cigars in freezer-grade bags and it has worked fine for me. I'm sure others can offer more input, and if you do a search you'll find a lot of info....if I had a temp controlled humi, I would not freeze. However, as stated in my earlier post I have a lot invested so I don't take any chances...it was something I thought about for a while after getting input from everybody on this forum and doing my research. I have also heard from a lot of BOTL that stated some companies already freeze their cigars...if this is true, I wouldn't think that freezing our cigars would be any different...again, not an expert...just my 2 cents

Krieg

if you don't want to freeze your sticks, another option would be to put your sticks in a vacuum. Eggs can't stand lack of air pressure and would be destroyed. I have used the Ziploc vacuum sealed bags, worked fine.

Nick2021

Krieg:

if you don't want to freeze your sticks, another option would be to put your sticks in a vacuum. Eggs can't stand lack of air pressure and would be destroyed. I have used the Ziploc vacuum sealed bags, worked fine.

Krieg, how long would it take for the eggs to be destroyed?

kuzi16

Nick2021:

Kuzi, my deep freezer gets to -8 ...how long do you keep your sticks in there (if you freeze them at all?). I probably have an environment which will prevent beetles 64-66 temp / 66% humidity...but that's dependent on the A/C and my wife gets picky on this lol Only thing I can control is the humidity with my set and forget

i never do freeze.

if i were to freeze at -10 i would say that 24-48 hours would be enough. +10 would need a few more days.