Tobacco Beetles?

[Lotusguy]

Can you tell me what vendor it is so ai don't use it?

Our good friends in my home country

It's beyond me how anyone could even remotely consider ever ordering from them again...

[sengjc]

Comes across as wood mites to me.

They are not known to cause damage to the actual cigars but they can attack the glue on the bands.

You may want to freeze the sticks to kill them off if you are concerned and planning to store with other sticks.

[El Presidente]

One thing I tell friends getting into the 'hobby' is to keep your CC's and NC's seperate. As in different humidors. Away from each other.

I have never had beetles in my CC's but have a few times in the NC's (of which I now have few.)

That said, beetles or not, the freeze advice wouldnt hurt.

One further thing, keep your Cuban Custom Cigars separate from your Cuban cigars. (Or freeze your Customs).

Custom Cigars do not go through the HSA freezing process so you run the normal odds of tobacco beetle eggs hiding in the leaf.

These days I would see (an approximation) 1 in 1000 boxes with a sign of a beetle hole in cigars from HSA. However with Custom Cigars (no matter from whom), I have seen over time a greater preponderance of beetle activity after 12 months in say a home humidor.

When we do have Customs we keep them at 15.5 degrees centigrade so no activity can happen. However, as a hint folks, even if you throw a few Customs in your humidor and an egg hatches, then all of your stock ( Customs and general production boxes) are susceptible whether or not those boxes have been frozen by HSA or yourself.

[hdryder]

One further thing, keep your Cuban Custom Cigars separate from your Cuban cigars. (Or freeze your Customs).

Custom Cigars do not go through the HSA freezing process so you run the normal odds of tobacco beetle eggs hiding in the leaf.

These days I would see (an approximation) 1 in 1000 boxes with a sign of a beetle hole in cigars from HSA. However with Custom Cigars (no matter from whom), I have seen over time a greater preponderance of beetle activity after 12 months in say a home humidor.

When we do have Customs we keep them at 15.5 degrees centigrade so no activity can happen. However, as a hint folks, even if you throw a few Customs in your humidor and an egg hatches, then all of your stock ( Customs and general production boxes) are susceptible whether or not those boxes have been frozen by HSA or yourself.

How long can the eggs stay dorment before they are no longer a risk?

[El Presidente]

I have seen 12 year old cigars come to life with beetles in the right conditions, So I suspect it is a looooooooong time but I don't have a specific answer.

[Fuzz]

One further thing, keep your Cuban Custom Cigars separate from your Cuban cigars. (Or freeze your Customs).

Custom Cigars do not go through the HSA freezing process so you run the normal odds of tobacco beetle eggs hiding in the leaf.

These days I would see (an approximation) 1 in 1000 boxes with a sign of a beetle hole in cigars from HSA. However with Custom Cigars (no matter from whom), I have seen over time a greater preponderance of beetle activity after 12 months in say a home humidor.

When we do have Customs we keep them at 15.5 degrees centigrade so no activity can happen. However, as a hint folks, even if you throw a few Customs in your humidor and an egg hatches, then all of your stock ( Customs and general production boxes) are susceptible whether or not those boxes have been frozen by HSA or yourself.

Yep, one time I found a beetle hole in a custom I got from certain vendor...

[Chelsea8]

I found these woodmite crawling around in quite a few boxes of cigars examined in various LCDH's in Havana. So it is not just online vendors that have them and these may not be uncommon to find.

When in Havana, I made sure I brought along my "close-up" glasses to check each and every box of cigars closely, before buying any. As there was a particular vitola that I wanted, I bought a box that had woodmite, brought it back and froze the box for 4 days ( 2 days in fridge, 4 days freezer and then 2 days in fridge) and these resilient buggers were still crawling around after that. Of cos I kept these from my other cigars and cleaned them off each time, before smoking the lot.

[papatrips]

I bought a box that had woodmite, brought it back and froze the box for 4 days ( 2 days in fridge, 4 days freezer and then 2 days in fridge) and these resilient buggers were still crawling around after that. Of cos I kept these from my other cigars and cleaned them off each time, before smoking the lot.

I had the same experience. I froze all the boxes in my humi and I thought freezing would kill the mites. I vacuumed the hell out of the boxes and my humi afterwards too and I have not had a problem since.