They could come from any cigar. I don't think that someone would intentionaly send a bomb that might be infested. But you may also have a point to quarantine new arrivals until you are sure that you can place them in with your own cigars.
I have one big humidor that I use but I will rehumidify my other one to use until I know they are safe from now on. Thanks for the heads up even if it isnt the origin of the beetles at least I cant kick myself for not doing it as a safty precaution. Lets face it we all have humdreds if not thousands of dollars invested in our cigars. Why chance it one a new smoke that you are unfamiliar with the conditions in which they were kept. The same could be said for many other things besides cigars. Thanks again for the heads up!
If you get beetles, check to see how many frequent flier miles they have, and we can extrapolate on the origin. They may also have a tan (Dominican, Honduran, etc).
I'll probably keep a separate humi-pouch or box for "donations" from friends, or if I ever get on one of these bombs.
Posts: 818 | Location: Central New Jersey | Registered: March 15, 2005
The minor beetle outbreak I had was in a humi that had not seen any bomb 'gars....I mainly use it to rest bundles....but I figure it got into the mid eighties for a day or two (I forgot it and left it in the garage)....I'm making 'gar-sickles for the next few days, and cleaned the humi with alcohol.....
Pain in the A$$......
"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation." ~ Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
Originally posted by rbihari: and cleaned the humi with alcohol.....
Might seem like a dumb question - do you use rubbing alcohol? How damp is it? How long does the humi have to sit then before putting the cigars back in?
B.A.S.E. Secretary and #0013 <(0)> R.O.C.A #14 Foreign Affairs Minister - BS
In may case the cigar came from CigarBid (CigarsInternational.com). It was a factory sealed 6 pack of Puros Indos, so the beetles were likely in there from the time they were packaged.
I'm not sure about the rubbing alchohol in the humi, that may damage it. I just wiped it out really good. It's not like they're crapping eggs at random, they crawl into the nice, warm, moist cigar and leave their deposits.
Peace.
Posts: 2085 | Location: Internet | Registered: October 08, 2004
Might seem like a dumb question - do you use rubbing alcohol? How damp is it? How long does the humi have to sit then before putting the cigars back in?
After blowing out the interior of the humi, I just wiped the interior with a paper towel well-wetted with Isopropyl alcohol, then ran a bit more around the bottom and side seams to make sure I got any eggs hidden in the cracks.... It doesn't appear that there's any damage at all, and after about leaving it open for an hour or so, there was no odor, other than ceder. I'm just re-seasoning it now, and seems to be coming back nicely....but no smokes in it yet.
I don't know if this is the "correct" way to do it, I just read a bunch of old posts, and various articles on-line about dealing with the critters (appears there's a lot of conflicting advice)...and this makes as much sense as any of them.....I'll just monitor the humi, and see what happens....I just use it primarily for conditioning bundles, so it should be a good test.
I think the key is to keep the temps low in the future, though it seems that some people have had beetle outbreaks even at 70 & below.
I'm a bit more paranoid now, and will be checking my stash more carefully, and often....
"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation." ~ Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
