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Last post 20 years ago by smaddox. 17 replies replies.
Help..Beetle Infestation
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5augie5 Offline
#1 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 5:25 AM EST
Joined: 12-02-1999
Posts: 165
Damn, I was putting some new cigars into my humidor and saw the dreaded small holes in one of my Buccanero peg legs. It was painful, but I had to tear into the cigar and was disappointed to see live munching tobacco beetles. I inspected the other sticks and did not see any other holes. My question to the experts...is it possible that the infestation is isolated to one stick? Other than the obvious drill holes, should I be looking for other signs to see if my entire stock is infected? I've got about 20 super premium ISOM sticks, along with about 40 others I cherish. I would appreciate some expert advise.

Thanks in advance.

Augie
wer Offline
#2 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 5:31 AM EST
Joined: 02-13-2003
Posts: 1,633
Get them into the freezer..better safe than sorry.

Do a search here, lots of info on the topic.
Robby Offline
#3 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 6:27 AM EST
Joined: 10-30-2002
Posts: 5,067
FREEZE THEM ALL! I double bagged in ziplock freezer bags, carefully removing as much air as possible from the first, then putting it in a second.

Then set your freezer on the coldest setting, put them in, leave them for 3 days, then in to the fridge for a day to thaw (handle with care), then out of the fridge and in a cooler for a day to climatize, then back in the dor... Good luck! Just went through it!
Robby Offline
#4 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 6:28 AM EST
Joined: 10-30-2002
Posts: 5,067
Oh, and vaccume your humi out good, and then wipe it with a lightly damp cloth or paper towel.
mrkmitch Offline
#5 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 6:46 AM EST
Joined: 11-18-2002
Posts: 990
What Robby said.
I just went through this with a Classic Maduro Buc myself. Froze a whole 'dors worth of cigars. Make sure you use distilled water on your dampened cloth to clean out your 'dor, don'd want to start any other growths.
5augie5 Offline
#6 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 7:57 AM EST
Joined: 12-02-1999
Posts: 165
Thanks for the advise. Yea, did a search through the boards and looks like the only safe bet is to freeze'm all. I double bagged the bunch and put them in the freezer. Man, its hard to put a couple of vintage partagas ISOM's in the deep freeze (1992), I sure hope they are not destroyed.
When I took all the cigars out and took apart the humidor, I found a couple of bastards hiding in the cracks, and one more under the credo.
BUCANARO arrrgh! Won't be buying anymore of those!

Augie
Penguin13 Offline
#7 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 8:15 AM EST
Joined: 07-26-2002
Posts: 1,546
Thats a horrible thing :( I've never had beetle (knock on wood) but was wondering...are you sure they came form the Bucs? I know you said that it was the only one that had a beetle in it but you found more through out the humi. And NO i'm not jumping down anyones throat because he is assuming it came from the Bucs and they could NEVER have beetles. Any cigar can have beetles, regardless. I was just asking if that one had the beetle, was that the culprit. Or was the beetle already in there and just find a tastey cigar to munch on?

KC
plabonte Offline
#8 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 8:29 AM EST
Joined: 09-11-2000
Posts: 2,131
Some company should come up with an infra-red camera that detects these beetles. Then you can look them over before you put them in your humi.
5augie5 Offline
#9 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 8:37 AM EST
Joined: 12-02-1999
Posts: 165
I am almost certain it came from the buc. I have three humidors and the one that is infested is the one I keep my high end cigars. I haven't purchased any high ender's for a while, but about a month ago I put two buc's and two AF hemingway's. Smoked one of the buc's a couple of days later and looking back on it, I did notice some "tobacco powder" on the surface (which I now know is what the beetles leave). Last night when I inspected the humidor, I found the dreaded beetle holes in the remaining buc. I cracked open the cigar and found both beetles and larvae. After a careful inspection, no other cigar had any signs of damage. So..naturally I am blaming the bucanaro, and/or the tobacco shop, neither will get my business again!

PS. I noticed during my "beetle" search on the boards that this is not the first complaint with beetles found in bucanaro's.
Penguin13 Offline
#10 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 8:40 AM EST
Joined: 07-26-2002
Posts: 1,546
Just out of curiosity, what is the temp in the humi that had the beatles?

KC
5augie5 Offline
#11 Posted: Tue, Aug 26 2003, 9:16 AM EST
Joined: 12-02-1999
Posts: 165
KC,

I keep this humidor on the dresser in my bedroom and it does not get direct sunlight. I keep the house at 70 degrees at all times. I live in Cincinnati and bought the buc's in Cleveland on a business trip (no shop in Cincy carries buc's), so they did reach higher temp's in my car. I am sure that during that particular day in June, the car temp. reached 85+ when I was on a couple of sales calls and the smokes were in my car.
Oh well, enough whining, thanks to all forum members for letting me vent. I'll let you know how the freezer pops taste later next week.
Augie
smaddox Offline
#12 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 12:27 PM EST
Joined: 03-04-2003
Posts: 97
I just had the same problem with beatles. I had them in 3 out of 4 Buc Robustos. From now on I'm going to freeze all my Buc cigars before I put them in my humidor.
Slimboli Offline
#13 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 12:36 PM EST
Joined: 07-09-2000
Posts: 16,139
Very strange ...

I've received three or four boxes of Buc's, plus many singles ... and have yet to find one beetle in any of them ...

... or in any of my 10 humidors, for that matter, from ANY cigar ... and since I started smoking cigars, I have yet to freeze a single stick ...

... go figure.

I guess I'm just one of the extremely lucky ones ...
tandem401 Offline
#14 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 2:16 PM EST
Joined: 03-01-2002
Posts: 112
Get The Utlimate Cigar Book by Richard Carleton Hacker, Autumngold Publishing, 1997 or later. He describes what to do in detail. Yes, it's basically a freeze job. The book is worth having in general. You won't be disappointed.
smaddox Offline
#15 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 3:40 PM EST
Joined: 03-04-2003
Posts: 97
Thanks for the info, I will try and track down that book. I think I probably caught the problem before it reach my other sticks. I keep the cello on and the Bucs were on top. I have closely inspected all my other sticks and I can not see any signs of beetles. I personally think it may be a issue with Bucanero.
dz130 Offline
#16 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 3:50 PM EST
Joined: 08-22-2003
Posts: 781
please email me and let me know which shop in cleveland you got the bucs at. I live here and want to keep a watch out. thanks

[email protected]
tandem401 Offline
#17 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 4:09 PM EST
Joined: 03-01-2002
Posts: 112
Just a little note of caution, not alarm. I believe that the little hole in the cigar wrapper is an exit wound which would imply that at least one of the critters has begun to circulate.

But I must add that years ago I had a bundle from a shop in Chicago that had just one or two cigars with holes in them. The bundle was still sealed. At that time I didn't know what the hole signified. I thought it was just a manufacturing defect and so I did nothing about it. The result of that was absolutely nothing. I never saw another hole. So maybe my precautionary note is unjustified.
smaddox Offline
#18 Posted: Sun, Sep 7 2003, 4:28 PM EST
Joined: 03-04-2003
Posts: 97
tandem, thanks for your info. I did KILL 2 of the little beetles. I was getting my Sunday smoke out and was horrified to see one on top if a CAO Crillo. I found the other one on a Buc. I disected 3 of the Bucs (long filler,hahaha), and I didn't find anymore beetles. I gave the 4th to a friend of a friend, he said it had some bitter spots.
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