What else lurks other than cigar beetles?

[CIGARHead]

OK. Opened a cab of Upmann Mag46 with 4-5 left. Through the transparent paper I see a tiny, I mean tiny lil **** crawling round. Now I dont claim to know exactly what a cigar beetle looks like in person, just pics Ive seen online, but I dont think it was one. It looked like a small gnat. Very small. Almost non-existent.Not black with an outer shell, more like a gray color, but nonetheless very very small. No holes in any cigar. Tapped them on some paper to see if any dust came out. Nothing. That was the only one Ive seen too. So question to all is...

Are there any other known critters that crawl around tobacco or am I having a tough time admitting I have seen a beetle. Wish I had a pic of it, although it was sooo small I doubt itd show up. Pressed my finger on it and now its no longer. Hopefully it was just a scavenger. BTW, I keep my Avallo at 63% RH and 68-70 deg.

Any insight as to what else may be lurking in cigars would be much appreciated.

[habanohal]

The "beetles" from what I have seen are white and small. I know this because a few months ago I was going through my brothers cabinet on NCs' And had to throw away %90 of them. Dust everywhere, holes through the cigars, and beetles crawling around. But then, He doesnt belive me about the tempature rules to keep it down.

Hell, if I lost %90 of my collection , it would cost me over $15 k

[Loki]

A friend of mine had an outbreak, even sounds evil, a few years ago and we happened to find 2 of the bastards. They were small,about the size of a medium ball piont pen tip, and very pale brown. Upon death they made a loud crunch. There was no epitaph heard.

If you find more capture and magnify them.

[Chicago]

» OK. Opened a cab of Upmann Mag46 with 4-5 left. Through the transparent

» paper I see a tiny, I mean tiny lil **** crawling round. Now I dont claim

» to know exactly what a cigar beetle looks like in person, just pics Ive

» seen online, but I dont think it was one. It looked like a small gnat.

» Very small. Almost non-existent.Not black with an outer shell, more like a

» gray color, but nonetheless very very small. No holes in any cigar. Tapped

» them on some paper to see if any dust came out. Nothing. That was the only

» one Ive seen too. So question to all is...

»

» Are there any other known critters that crawl around tobacco or am I

» having a tough time admitting I have seen a beetle. Wish I had a pic of

» it, although it was sooo small I doubt itd show up. Pressed my finger on

» it and now its no longer. Hopefully it was just a scavenger. BTW, I keep

» my Avallo at 63% RH and 68-70 deg.

»

» Any insight as to what else may be lurking in cigars would be much

» appreciated.

I once has small whitish critters crawling around on some boxes. The only thing I heard that made senses was that they were possibly dust mites? In any case, I just brushed em off and no harm. They are about the size of a grain of salt, only flatter.

[Loki]

» Hell, if I lost %90 of my collection , it would cost me over $15 k

BTW sounds like a nice collection.

[CIGARHead]

» I once has small whitish critters crawling around on some boxes. The only

» thing I heard that made senses was that they were possibly dust mites? In

» any case, I just brushed em off and no harm. They are about the size of a

» grain of salt, only flatter.

Chicago.

That sounds exactly what I saw. White/Grey flat and small. Thanks for the reply. Makes me feel a bit better. Now I can enjoy my Rum.:-D

I was just waiting for Rob to chime in saying "Dont know mate, if I were you, Id throw out your collection..Im running a great sale ya know"

[mgillett]

A bit off topic but I need to get my post count up before my next order When I used to travel around a bit for work I made a habit of buying a 5 pack of Monte 4's or ryj petit coronas at various airports on the way back into Australia. That was until I saw a display box of monte 4s at Singapore airport absolutely crawling with what I guess were tobacco beetle. Never bought from an airport since

[cvm4]

Austin,

You might be seeing a cigar glue mite, which lives off the glue and around the band of the cigar. The mite is barely visible with the human eye so its difficult to see it unless you have a magnifying glass, or pay close attention to the surface. It is white or opaque in appearance. These mites are not harmful however, depending on the number present, the best thing to do is to lightly brush them off. Remove all your stock from the humidor, place it in an airtight container and freeze for around 10 days.

Hope this is what you got! I've seen a couple of these in my humi and I had to do a double-take because it looked like something was moving on the surface but then it didn't. Wierd...

[CIGARHead]

» Austin,

» You might be seeing a cigar glue mite, which lives off the glue and around

» the band of the cigar. The mite is barely visible with the human eye so its

» difficult to see it unless you have a magnifying glass, or pay close

» attention to the surface. It is white or opaque in appearance. These mites

» are not harmful however, depending on the number present, the best thing to

» do is to lightly brush them off. Remove all your stock from the humidor,

» place it in an airtight container and freeze for around 10 days.

»

» Hope this is what you got! I've seen a couple of these in my humi and I

» had to do a double-take because it looked like something was moving on the

» surface but then it didn't. Wierd...

Thanks Cliff.

Yours and Chicago's descriptions sound exactly what I saw. Like you said, it was VERY hard to see. If it didnt move I wouldnt have known any different. I feel mucho better. Thanks to all for your input. I had a **** night of sleep last night. You can probably guess what my nightmares were about....

A cigar beetle and our own El Prez were in cahoots. Rob supplied all the cigars to me. Shipped the beetle in with the cigars. In turn, mr. beetle ate said cigars and I ordered more - creating a vicious cycle of food for the beetle, money for the Prez and no cigars for me. Terrible dream. Shaking when I awoke. Need some rum to calm down.

[ironman]

» Austin,

» You might be seeing a cigar glue mite, which lives off the glue and around

» the band of the cigar. The mite is barely visible with the human eye so its

» difficult to see it unless you have a magnifying glass, or pay close

» attention to the surface. It is white or opaque in appearance. These mites

» are not harmful however, depending on the number present, the best thing to

» do is to lightly brush them off. Remove all your stock from the humidor,

» place it in an airtight container and freeze for around 10 days.

»

» Hope this is what you got! I've seen a couple of these in my humi and I

» had to do a double-take because it looked like something was moving on the

» surface but then it didn't. Wierd...

Cliff's right on, I found a few of these little buggers about a month ago and freaked out.....I asked around and read some posts and they're some sort of mite thats not harmfull to the smokes. I just crushed all the little bastards and check it every week or so, have not gone as far as freezing.

Ironman

[Loki]

Hmm, glue mite never saw 1 before. Learn something new everyday.

[ilikecigars]

ive heard of beetles.....ive heard of glue mites.....however heres a new one....teenage son's...grabbed some cigars once too smoke, and they were quite nice ones none the less...85 davidoffs.

[cvm4]

» ive heard of beetles.....ive heard of glue mites.....however heres a new

» one....teenage son's...grabbed some cigars once too smoke, and they were

» quite nice ones none the less...85 davidoffs.

Not a laughing matter there :-( That one had to hurt :-|

[mgillett]

At least you may be able to save them from the beetles :-(

[guilow]

I had those little glue mites once. They came in a box fresh box that was pretty moist. I freaked out for a while, thinking they were beetles. But some helpful folks pointed out that they were in fact mites. I brushed 'em off and haven't seen one since.

[Ginseng]

» I had those little glue mites once. They came in a box fresh box that was

» pretty moist. I freaked out for a while, thinking they were beetles.

» But some helpful folks pointed out that they were in fact mites. I

» brushed 'em off and haven't seen one since.

I've not had mites or beetles yet, thank goodness. But I subject my incoming stock to the following "decontamination" routine:

1) wrap box in saran, then foil, then saran, then foil and everything in 2 heavy plastic bags

2) one day in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator

3) four days in the freezer

4) one day in the vegetable crisper

5) one day at ambient

6) unwrap and then into the humidor

Using this routine, I've never had a wrapper split or a stick dry out, and hopefully because of this routine, never a beetle either. It takes a week and then some humi time before one can smoke...but anticipation is so delicious.

Wilkey

[genevapics]

Ginseng...

... do you taste any difference in your cigars?

[Ginseng]

» Ginseng...

»

» ... do you taste any difference in your cigars?

Not as far as I can tell. In most of these boxes, I have dipped one or two to smoke before they go in freeze. This is because most of the time, I do not get them in the deep freeze straight away since I let them rest from their travels. And, after they've rested, they look so inviting...and you know.

Keeping the moisture in with several layers of foil is absolutely essential. Unlike any form of plastic wrap or bag, it is an absolute barrier to diffusion.

Wilkey

[piranha]

» » I had those little glue mites once. They came in a box fresh box that

» was

» » pretty moist. I freaked out for a while, thinking they were beetles.

»

» » But some helpful folks pointed out that they were in fact mites. I

» » brushed 'em off and haven't seen one since.

»

» I've not had mites or beetles yet, thank goodness. But I subject my

» incoming stock to the following "decontamination" routine:

»

» 1) wrap box in saran, then foil, then saran, then foil and everything in 2

» heavy plastic bags

» 2) one day in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator

» 3) four days in the freezer

» 4) one day in the vegetable crisper

» 5) one day at ambient

» 6) unwrap and then into the humidor

»

» Using this routine, I've never had a wrapper split or a stick dry out, and

» hopefully because of this routine, never a beetle either. It takes a week

» and then some humi time before one can smoke...but anticipation is so

» delicious.

»

» Wilkey

I might have to go this route with my cigars. As in the summer the temp. in my apartment is in 80-90's.

I had to leave on the a/c all summer last year in the room that the cigars were in.

[The Privateer]

»

» Keeping the moisture in with several layers of foil is absolutely

» essential. Unlike any form of plastic wrap or bag, it is an absolute

» barrier to diffusion.

»

Thanks for that tip....I find that even double Ziplocs don't quite cut it.

[Shiba]

It was my little robots that I sent over to steal your cigars.. LOL :-D

[Loki]

» It was my little robots that I sent over to steal your cigars.. LOL :-D

Ah the wonders of Nano-technology. Maybe someone will design some to go in and hun the beetle larvae sp.

[Shiba]

Great information Wilkey!!! I have heard of doing this but some beleive that it will hinder the taste of the cigars... heck if I know.

[gabebdog1]

havent got a beetle yet thank god for temp control avallo

[El Presidente]

Austin

Xerentius Mites. They feed on Tobacco Beetles.