TOBACCO BEETLES
Since it's the hot month of August, it's a good time to discuss the dreaded tobacco beetle. These little monsters are unfortunately a fact of life for manufacturers, retailers and consumers alike, but they can be controlled.
To defeat this enemy, you must first understand him. No bigger than the size of a pinhead, just the mention of this little l'Enfant Terrible is enough to send cigar lovers into a tizzy. In the worst case, it can invade your humidor at home and render it into a pile of dust. These suckers eat like pigs, spread like wildfire, and lives for two things: tobacco and heat. Adult beetles measure about two to three millimeters long and live only 2 to 4 weeks, and thrive in humid climates and hot temperatures above 74 degrees.
Tobacco beetles have a life cycle - egg, larva, pupa and adult - that lasts about 10 to 12 weeks total. The female adult can chew its way through paper or tobacco leaf, and finds in cigars a suitably warm environment to lay its eggs, small white ovals that are too small for the human eye to detect. The eggs, up to 100 per birth cycle, hatch within six to 10 days, giving birth to the larvae. The larvae are what actually eat the tobacco to live and grow.
Once cigars have been brought home, consumers should inspect their humidors every few days, especially if they live in a hot or humid climate, or purchase cigars more than once a week. A telltale sign is a pinhole-sized circle in your cigar. If you see a beetle, don't panic; most of your cigars are probably salvageable.
Even though manufacturers and retailers take precautions against beetles, it's not impossible for a few to sneak through into your cigars. So, if you see signs of damage, act immediately. Put all the cigars from an infected humidor in a zipped plastic bag and place them in your freezer for three days. If the cigars are still in their box, put the whole box into the freezer. Treat all of your cigars, because if you have one damaged cigar, you have to assume they're all at risk. Freezing infested cigars kills any beetles or eggs inside, preventing your beetle problem from spreading. After three days in the deep freeze, move the cigars into your refrigerator to avoid shocking the smokes from the temperature change, which could split their wrappers. In the meantime, wipe your empty humidor clean with a damp cloth. Don't use any type of cleaner or disinfectant - it will ruin the wood and leave an odor that will taint your cigars. After one day in the refrigerator, the cigars can be returned to the humidor. Include some strips of cedar to absorb the excess moisture being released.
Now it's time to address the source of the problem - what caused the beetles to hatch. Your humidor was probably too moist or too hot. Use a digital hygrometer thermometer to get an accurate reading, and consider whether the room that houses your humidor isn't subject to temperature extremes when you're not around. Get it away from heaters, make sure the box is not in direct sunlight, and check your humidification system.
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