I was wondering how many of you freeze your cigars as a precaution as soon as you get them to prevent any beetle outbreak. At the moment I don't and have not had any problems but with the warmer temps coming I was considering this. Opinions ???

When I get new order... I quarantine them for 30 days in separate coolerador just in case. Have never had bugs yet.. (knock on wood)
AZ-Ron

i freeze mine as a matter of course. usually two days in the freezer. ok. i run pretty paranoid. still.. as much money as i have spent on tobacco tubes i plan on burning anyway, i want to do it myself, and not have any help from little insects.

i freeze mine as a matter of course. usually two days in the freezer. ok. i run pretty paranoid. still.. as much money as i have spent on tobacco tubes i plan on burning anyway, i want to do it myself, and not have any help from little insects.

i freeze mine as a matter of course. usually two days in the freezer. ok. i run pretty paranoid. still.. as much money as i have spent on tobacco tubes i plan on burning anyway, i want to do it myself, and not have any help from little insects.

sorry about the mulit post. these darn computers.

Heh heh

I've found a couple of gars with holes, but don't think the little stowaways came with them. I've thought about it, but it's too much trouble. I don't have a huge stash and can pretty much keep an eye on everything, besides, maybe it will help my reviews.... "about halfway through a lovely roasted thorax aroma permeated..."

I would not worry about freezing them as a precaution unless you live in a high humidity and high temp area.

Most big name manufacturers fumigate and freeze to prevent beatle outbreaks. If you are able to maintain something close to 70/70, you should be fine.

I freeze as a matter of course. I once brought some cigars home from Key West that were infested. Also, my house in summer stays around 78 deg, a high risk for beetle egg hatching.

From what I've been able to find, the life cycle stages are approximately:
egg: 6-10 days
(eggs must hatch within about 35 days or they won't at all)
larval (eating): 5-10 weeks
pupal (meta... metamor... er, changing into adults): 2-3 weeks
adult (screwing and laying eggs): 23-28 days

I'm not sure how long an effective quarantine would need to be. If beetle eggs have already hatched, you might not see holes for 5-13 weeks. So I freeze.

Are you sure about the part of the eggs not hatching after 35 days?

If that is true, then we should not see beatles in our cigars at all since they are harvested and aged well over 35 days before being rolled into cigars.

I found at least one web page that mentioned that the eggs were "viable" for 35 days. I'd feel better if other sources had mentioned that, but it makes sense; everything has a shelf life.

I get the impression that it's hard to keep the beetles out of the tobacco at any stage. Adults are tiny (I've seen them personally). Cigar factories are not NASA "clean rooms", and eggs could be laid pretty much anytime during the process, even after rolling.

And hatching could have occurred a month or so before you receive them and you'd have the eating critters inside.

Only ones I routinely freeze/quarantine are the ISOM's. May not be necessary, but I've read that the makers of ISOMs are not as concerned/particular about efforts to prevent beetle infestation. Have no empirical evidence to back this up, just don't want to take any chances...........especially in a 120 quart Igloodor or a 3000 cigar humidor..........

Just my thoughts..............