Tonight after going thru all the cigars in my smaller humidor I noticed 3 with suspect holes in the wrapper. One cigar had 2 such holes the others had just one. I have seen pictures of suggested beetle damage and I am concerned.

Does anyone know if a positive diagnosis can be made (like if you look hard enough can you see the actual insect?). I have quarantened these 3 and will continue to watch both these and all others. Could this just be defects in the leaf I didn't notice before?

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help.

Wagner

you have to perform surgery and look for the beetles, larvae and eggs. Cut open the 2 holed one first.

Also immediately remove everything from that humidor and give it a good cleaning with distilled water. Check it real well. Were the suspected gars in cello? If not them bastiges could have gone anywhere.

Search this forum there are some very good posts on this.

Thanks BassDude. I will cut open the one with 2-holes as soon as I find where I placed it. They are all in cello so maybe the others won't be affected--I really don't want to freeze the whole lot if I can avoid it.

I'll report back with results of the surgery and continued monitoring of the others.

Thanks,

Wagner

I just threw out an inexpensive cigar that had a beetle hole in it. I was fortunate enough to have used a quarantine tupperdor to hold the new (suspect) cigars in. I have never had a problem with aged, higher quality cigars. The one that had the beetle was from a box of yard gars that I had won two weeks ago. If your cigars were wrapped in cello, the beetle will chew right through it. The hole has a different look than just a puncture would. It should have sort of a light dusting around it. The hole in the cello will also help in identifying the fact that it was a beetle. A regular puncture would cut or tear the cello, a beetle will chew his way through, leaving no tears or peaces of the cello.

I was also able to find the little bugger too. Disposalled him in the sink. I think it made me feel better than just flushing him down the toilet.

If it was a defect in the leaf, you would see good tobacco directly behind the hole. If the hole is a hole in the cigar, it is more than likely a beetle. If it is a hole in the leaf then the hole will be the depth of the one leaf.

Let us know how the surgery went. I've never actually seen any of the little buggers, but I have smoked a few.

Beetle holes are pretty unmistakable. They're not tiny; about the size of the head of a pin or so and they're not shallow.

Can you take a picture?

Hurry!

Well I must have smoked the most affected cigar, either that or the friggin beetles ate the whole thing! I placed it to the side and must have picked it up by accident when I went out to the deck.

Well, it did burn funny for a quality cigar. These were the symptoms, I believe, of a beetle infested cig--it burned very unevenly, requiring touch-ups with the lighter several times. Taste was unaffected, but the buzz was stronger than ususal!

Seriously, I have no doubt it was beetles. The holes had a lighter tinge surrounding them that one of our fellow BOTL described as an indication. Also, when I looked at the cigar head on (into the ash) I noticed what appeared to be a strange tunnel in the ash just off-center. I did save and examine the cello, and there was no evidence of it having been breached.

Finally, this was no cheapy, but one of our better quality brands. I have 2 more cigs left from the same batch. One has a suspect hole which I have quaranteened and will monitor. The other is developing the most gourgeous plume I have ever seen (yes--I am sure it's plume and not beetle shat)! I surely hope it will be okay.

Thanks for all your responses and I will update when I know more.

Sincerely,

Wagner

what cigar was it ?......I must check my stash......

Wagner --- by not freezing your cigars, you may be in for a disaster!

Once you have beetles in one of your cigars in any given humidor ... they most likely have reproduced and migrated to others, you just don't know for sure.

It's better to be safe ... than sorry!

Niteorday:

Check my post under yesterday's "What are you smoking." I will tell you that this may have been a very isolated incident and perhaps should serve as a warning for all to inspect at least occasionally. I went through all my remaining cigars this morning and found no other traces of the devil.

Slimboli:

Unless I misunderstand I believe that is the larva (grub) stage of the insect that actually eats, and thus damages the cigar. I believe it must progress to a winged adult which then mates before it can reproduce. I have never seen anything flying in, out, or around my humidor (as has been noted by others) so I think I caught the problem early enough and hope I am safe. I have 2 young granchildren living here with me who are in and out of the freezer for ice cream, etc. all day. They could do more and faster damage than an army of beetles!

I will let you know how things do turn out. Also, the other 2 suspect cigars I have isolated I now believe do not have beetle damage, merely imperfections in the wrapper. They look far diffrent than the one I first identified yesterday.

Finally, please let me know if your knowlege of the various stages of the insect are different than mine. I am merely trying to piece together information I have gathered from different posts.

Thank you,

Wagner

Cigars can be shipped with eggs ... and you won't know of the damage until they emerge as adults. Cigar beetles hatch from eggs that are laid on the tobacco leaves. The curing and the manufacturing process kills many of the eggs, but sometimes a few survive.

The eggs hatch into worms that eat their way out of your cigar. They emerge as small brown beetles. The eggs usually will not hatch if the temperature in the humidor stays below 75 degrees.

The only way I know to get rid of tobacco beetles is to freeze them. But don't just go popping your prize cigars in the freezer. There are steps you should follow to protect your cigars during the freezing process.

1) Place all the cigars from the affected humidor in ziplok freezer bags (double bag them if possible). Be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before closing the bag(s).

2) Place them in the freezer for three (3) days.

3) Place them in the refrigerator for one (1) day.

4) Take them out of the refrigerator and leave them at room temperature for one (1) day (still in the bag(s).

5) Thoroughly clean out the inside of your humidor with a vacuum cleaner (a small crevice tool will allow you to get into the corners of your humidor).

6) Take them out of the bag and place them back in your humidor.

Pictures of cigar beetles to follow ...

Wagner,

This link has more info that might help you. Some pics can be seen too in some of my posting links.

http://www.cigarbid.com/auction/forum/forum.cfm?action=list&forumID=1&messageDisplay=0000000022670 

Slim is right about the eggs. Many cigars already have the eggs in them. They just hatch when the temp is to high. If you have gars that hatched some beetles now, the temp is just right for all the others too. Freeze`em to be safe.

Dave

Oh the pain. Thanks for salting that old wound, ths. Hopefully this info will help.

thanks wagner......

Wagner,

Just a little note of encouragement: I have a rather large humidor and would usually have some 300-400 cigars on hand. I also tend to keep some of them for many years.

Over the years I sometimes have noticed those pinhead holes which I thought were just factory mistakes. I never did anything about it. I now know better and would, probably, do the freezer technique.

But the point is, even though I have had beetle holes, have kept the cigars for a long time and did nothing about the beetles, I have still never had a problem with a growing infestation. Whatever I saw did not get worse.

I think the local climate is an important factor. I'm in Chicago.

All Ways look At A Bundle If U See Tobacco Dust It Was Made By Beatles.The Adults Can Fly From Stick To Stick.They Hate Ceder So There Is A Lot If It In My Humidors.

I Have Found That Keeping New Sticks In A Tupador As Suggested Is A Good Way To Check New Cheap Stick Out If U Open The Box And Something Small Fly's Out Yo Have Beatles And Just Throw The Bad Sticks Out.I Hope You Don't Ever Have This Problem.