Wood mites or beetle

[Doctortrent]

I’m assuming this is a wood mite 

I’ve found a few of them in a couple different boxes

no visible damage on any cigars,I keep my humidors at 60/65  how does this happen??

 

[Doctortrent]

Few photos 

trying to upload video

[Doctortrent]

[CaptainQuintero]

I can't see anything, there's a bit of dust on the cigar, level with your knuckle in the third pic if that's what you're talking about?

[CaptainQuintero]

  Sorry just seen the video now, beetles are a lot bigger and dark too but I've never come across one in person. I'm guessing just a mite 99% sure, certainly looks like one. Freezing the boxes will get rid of them regardless

 

 

[Doctortrent]

On the band and below the band 

sorry can’t get the video to upload

[bpm32]

Wood mites. They congregate around the glue on the band. In my experience freezing the boxes to -10 °C do not get rid of them.

[Mikeltee]

I have a very trained eye for spider mites. Those are not beetles as those bad boys are visible to anyone. I'm not familiar with a wood mite but those specs do resemble a spider mite. I'd need a sharper photo to determine. If you look close enough you can see the little bastards legs as hes moving. They can lay 1000 eggs an hour in proper conditions. I'd quarantine everything, assess the damage, go buy a deep freeze that does negative temps and freeze them if you do indeed assess these specs as pests. The last thing you want is every stick susceptible to being compromised.

[Mikeltee]

3 minutes ago, bpm32 said:

Wood mites. They congregate around the glue on the band. In my experience freezing the boxes to -10 °C do not get rid of them.

As with spider mites, the eggs can live through any condition. In order to control them, you must use chemicals that when applied require masks. The only way to get rid of them is to throw the source away and start over. This is one reason why I prefer smaller tupperdores that hold 2 25cabs and a cedar tray of 30 sticks.

[CaptainQuintero]

If you want to go down the route there's plenty of threads for freezing, I keep it simple:

Double ziplock bag, into the freezer for 4 days, into the fridge for a few days then on the side for a few days then de-bag and back into the humidor.

  Probably sensible to wipe down the humidor with alcohol while the cigar are freezing

[El Presidente]

Wood Mites

Take the cigars out of the box and check them.   Check each cigar and leave the box out in the sunlight (lid open and facing the sun) for a few hours. 

they will find another host. 

 

[DaBoot]

I had a box with them. Didn’t notice any damage to the sticks even after a year. They eat the glue, so the bands slide right off.... usually keep all new inventory quarantined 90 days minimum for suck reasons 

[Fugu]

No freezing necessary. Don't panic, they won't damage the cigars. More a nuisance than a pest in cigars. This is a supplier- or home-made 'infestation', not coming from Cuba (in most cases). Check humidity, as they prefer moist(er) conditions and can also be indicative of traces of mould. Presumably feeding on carbohydrates (polysaccharides) and on fungal matter.

Do just as Rob suggests - best done outside - take each cigar out, brush off sticks and vac-clean boxes. Check in a couple of weeks for any return. And do check your storage humidity. (actually, it is booklice (rather than wood-mites - a common misnomer: mites are 'spiders', lice are insects) of the cosmopolitan family of Liposcelididae)

[Lotusguy]

19 hours ago, Mikeltee said:

As with spider mites, the eggs can live through any condition. In order to control them, you must use chemicals that when applied require masks. The only way to get rid of them is to throw the source away and start over. This is one reason why I prefer smaller tupperdores that hold 2 25cabs and a cedar tray of 30 sticks.

The mites/lice are totally harmless to the cigars - are you seriously suggesting that he should throw away perfectly good sticks??

To the OP - follow Rob's suggestion.

[Mikeltee]

No absolutely not Lotusguy. That is the only solution with a spider mite. If they are indeed harmless than who cares. I'd quarantine, smoke them quick, and pray they dont get into any other boxes. I've smoked many of spider mites in my day. You cant even notice unless you are looking for them.

[CrownN7eveN]

I’ve had a few boxes with these little buggers.  All I did was remove, inspect, and “brush” each cigar around band area, blasted the box thoroughly with a can of electronic duster, placed cigars back, double zip locked ensuring to squeeze all the “air” out of said zip locks, and quarantined for a few months.  After inspecting the boxes again and finding nothing, I placed them back in the coolerdor.  After these were back in the general population, I found a box of JL#2 with these things crawling around.  I guess they hatched or something somehow, cause they weren’t there before, so I think anyways...but anyways, I’m waiting on that box to sit in quarantine for a while.

[Bri Fi]

First time I saw these on my cigars I almost threw them all out. I did a little research and learned they are harmless. Now I consider them my smoking buddies. We both love cigars. In all seriousness, I smash them when I see them. Otherwise I just ignore them.