ever had a beetle infestation ???

Weelok · 10-12-2014, 12:40 PM

I'd have to look up the chart again but here is some of the data I found when a Graycliff hatched in my humidor.

1. Most cigar manufacturers have two things they use to control beetles, one is pesticides in the warehouse (fumigants), and the other is freezing after the cigar is rolled.

2. Freezing can actually destroy the beetle eggs and optimally a "deep freeze" such as used to flash freeze fish is recommended.

3. High temperatures (spiru.cgahr.ksu.edu/proj/iwcspp/pdf2/9/6239.pdf) destroy beetle eggs as well and is actually more commonly used in the food industry to control them as it's really not all that hot and grains etc don't mind it at all. At 55 degrees C for roughly an hour all of the eggs are destroyed. With regards to heating cigars though, not very common and I'm guessing it's due to the same thing as fish, e.g. flash freezing fish keeps them fresh and tasty and heating them up, well, cooks them.

4. If the cigars are not fumigated, deep frozen, or heat treated, there is almost a 100% chance that beetle eggs are dormant inside of the cigar and then it's a game of when they hatch.

5. Hatching is mostly temperature dependent because you don't want to have a grain dry and dusty cigar so your stuck with being in an optimal humidity range. The optimal temperature range is 80 degrees F however the range is from 60 degrees F to 110 degrees F for hatching with lower temperatures increasing the time in dormancy. At 80 degrees F incubation time of less then a week to hatching. Even storing cigars at 65 deg F and 65% humidity hatches beetles. You have to store below 60 deg F if you want to prevent them from hatching if the eggs are present.

Well, that is what I remembered and I did browse the internet before posting this reading all sorts of conclusions in University studies as the details, well, ADD kicks in and I just can't read the biology test details.

sweater914 · 10-12-2014, 06:36 PM

I'm doing a salt test on my hygrometer over the last couple of days in the basement. Upstairs it's between 68-70 degrees and downstairs according to the hygrometer sits between 65-66 degrees.

If that temperature spread holds during the summer, the house sits at 80-81 degrees during a couple of weeks in the summer. I'd be near the upper edge of the recommended temperature spread.

That being said I'll probably freeze my cigars, once I get my bloody cooler, time and money, time and money.

10-12-2014, 12:40 PM	#1
Weelok I'm nuts for the place Join Date: Jul 2011 First Name: Dave Location: Reno, NV Posts: 4,146 Trading: (21)	Re: ever had a beetle infestation ??? I'd have to look up the chart again but here is some of the data I found when a Graycliff hatched in my humidor. 1. Most cigar manufacturers have two things they use to control beetles, one is pesticides in the warehouse (fumigants), and the other is freezing after the cigar is rolled. 2. Freezing can actually destroy the beetle eggs and optimally a "deep freeze" such as used to flash freeze fish is recommended. 3. High temperatures (spiru.cgahr.ksu.edu/proj/iwcspp/pdf2/9/6239.pdf) destroy beetle eggs as well and is actually more commonly used in the food industry to control them as it's really not all that hot and grains etc don't mind it at all. At 55 degrees C for roughly an hour all of the eggs are destroyed. With regards to heating cigars though, not very common and I'm guessing it's due to the same thing as fish, e.g. flash freezing fish keeps them fresh and tasty and heating them up, well, cooks them. 4. If the cigars are not fumigated, deep frozen, or heat treated, there is almost a 100% chance that beetle eggs are dormant inside of the cigar and then it's a game of when they hatch. 5. Hatching is mostly temperature dependent because you don't want to have a grain dry and dusty cigar so your stuck with being in an optimal humidity range. The optimal temperature range is 80 degrees F however the range is from 60 degrees F to 110 degrees F for hatching with lower temperatures increasing the time in dormancy. At 80 degrees F incubation time of less then a week to hatching. Even storing cigars at 65 deg F and 65% humidity hatches beetles. You have to store below 60 deg F if you want to prevent them from hatching if the eggs are present. Well, that is what I remembered and I did browse the internet before posting this reading all sorts of conclusions in University studies as the details, well, ADD kicks in and I just can't read the biology test details.

10-12-2014, 06:36 PM	#2
sweater914 Still Watching My Back Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Lower Manitoba, North Dakota Posts: 72 Trading: (1)	Re: ever had a beetle infestation ??? I'm doing a salt test on my hygrometer over the last couple of days in the basement. Upstairs it's between 68-70 degrees and downstairs according to the hygrometer sits between 65-66 degrees. If that temperature spread holds during the summer, the house sits at 80-81 degrees during a couple of weeks in the summer. I'd be near the upper edge of the recommended temperature spread. That being said I'll probably freeze my cigars, once I get my bloody cooler, time and money, time and money.