Hi all, new guy here.

I recently got a new box. The previous owner, a friend, showed me that he'd had beetles in some of his cigars (looked like a lot to me). When I got the humidor I thought seasoning it with distilled water would be enough, which I did. Then I read some more about beetles and saw some recommendations to wipe down the humidor with rubbing alcohol to kill off any residual larvae. So I did that. The box is doing fine, keeping very close to or on 70/70 still.

My question: Should I season again with distilled water after the alcohol treatment?

Appreciate your thoughts/experiences.

Best,

Dave
[Reply]

If it's holding humidity at the right level, no, no need to re-season.

As for the rubbing alcohol, that's more for mold than beetles. Simply vacuuming out the humidor is sufficient, beetles don't really like spanish cedar for a food source so they won't be eating it, and the larvae are pretty big, about 1/8" long, you'd be hard pressed to miss them.
[Reply]

Good to know. :-)

Welcome to the forums Dave! Post in the Newbie Introduction area so we can all say hi!

Link: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7
[Reply]

Any chance there might be some eggs laying around? Does the rubbing alcohol kill them?
[Reply]

I wouldn't be too concerned with the eggs. A lot of cigars you buy have beetle eggs on them, you just can't see them. If you keep your cigars at a nice cool temp then there is no need to worry about eggs, even if they are there.
[Reply]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I appreciate the info. Good point about the eggs already existing in many cigars already, dwoodward. Though it might not have been entirely necessary, I will sleep better after the alcohol treatment (in addition to the thorough cleaning I gave it).

Best,

Dave
[Reply]

I usually sleep really well after an alcohol treatment. :-) :-)
[Reply]

I freeze everything that comes in (unless I'm planning on smoking it within a month, in which case it goes into a separate humi). Just wondering if I need to be freezing my boxes too.
[Reply]

Hard to say. Beetles probably aren't going to lay eggs on the sc, but they might on paper since they will eat that too. Could an egg laid on the capa (wrapper) of the cigar detach safely and still incubate if it were to land on the box lining, I honestly have no idea.

I freeze the boxes because it's just one less thing to worry about and I don't want to risk damaging the cigars taking them out and then repacking them. Not to mention, for some boxes, I think it would be just about impossible to repack properly so that it closed fully.
[Reply]