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WTF?! Beetles? Seriously?

sofc

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Interesting that this thread has popped up. I found one stick yesterday that had a single round hole in it:
View attachment 60504
View attachment 60505

Not sure how long the hole has been there, and There are no holes in any other stick. I read somewhere on here about dust coming from the hole or foot of the stick, but had non of that either. What do you guys think? Beetle???
I think it's a beetle but I'm not an entomologist
 

StogieNinja

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Looks like a beetle hole to me.

...but my knowledge comes almost exclusively from looking at these kind of photos online, never had one in my stash.
 
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Agree with the above 2. The only time I found a beetle in one of my humis it was dead and in my heartfelt beads. I couldn't find any damage but it'll pucker your butthole and I froze my entire stash right away
 
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I appreciate the feed back you guys have given me. Without further ado...

The deconstruction of a Crowned Heads Tennessee Waltz:

Operating table with entry (or exit?) wound visible on the patient:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426639292.029679.jpg

I begin by making a vertical incision on both sides of the cigar, up through the cap, and removed the wrapper. The wrapper is very thin and delicate. At this point I still only see the single hole
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426639515.365184.jpg

Next, I repeat the vertical incision, this time throw the binder, the slowly and gently remove the binder. Initially I still only see the one hole, but upon stretching out the binder I notice one additional hole about half an inch below the original hole, with a possible third one further down, but this could have been caused when I removed and stretched the binder:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426639736.334094.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426639746.502324.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426640154.085640.jpg

After removing the binder, I begin to take apart the filler. The two holes are noticeable on two pieces of tobacco; everything else seems to be untouched. No tunnels are to be found:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426639979.622978.jpg

Same piece with a leaf removed from behind to better illustrate the damage:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426640015.391483.jpg

The filler all spread out:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426640208.974391.jpg

I can only add 10 attachments, so I'll add some additional photos in the next post.

The results of my research showed 2-3 suspected beetle holes, but no tunnels, beetles, or other foreign objects. It was interesting to feel and smell the differences in the wrapper vs binder vs filler. The filler smelled much sweeter than the wrapper, and had some slight play to it.

Not sure if this has any impact on a potential infestation, but I at least feel better that there was not a maze of tunnels and actual beetles (at least non that I could see) in the stick. This gives me hope for my other sticks.

Anyways, I hope you guys found this interesting/informative!

And if anyone happens to have an extra Tennessee Waltz laying around they would be willing to sell, that was my second and final one... damn beetles .

I'll have some additional close ups of the filler I'll post in a moment. I looks like I can only attach 10 photos to this post via Tapatalk.
 
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Additional photos of the filler:

Filler all spread out:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426641441.212241.jpg

Close up shots of the filler clockwise from the top left (note - filler broke apart while I unrolled everything. I don't want you to think scraps are being used for filler; that definitely isn't the case):
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426641488.366283.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426641496.700428.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426641508.001614.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426641517.835631.jpg

Binder stretched out:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426641537.871183.jpg
 
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Definitely a beetle hole... next time, don't dissect it, just place it in a ziplock with some air and let it sit in a sunny window... more times than not you will get your own little beetle farm a'brewing.

BR,

STS
 

Isaiah

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Had the same thing happen to me with 1 cigar. Took it apart and found this sucker. I just bought the cigar from my local spot. My place doesn't get above 65 degrees so I must have missed the signs when buying it.Untitled.png Untitled1.png
 

Isaiah

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It was a Perla Del Mar, no pics before hand. A lot of panicking, looked very similar to the above post one small pinhole. This just happened a couple days ago.
 
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The photos seemed to defiantly show beatle damage but the damage was very limited. I'm sure it has been several months since that cigar was rolled. I don't know but I would think that there would be more damage if the beetle(s) were alive for several months. It makes me think that the company froze the cigar like most do now and therefore the little bugger only ate for a few days. If that is the case then the chance of your humidor being infested is zero. I wonder if anyone know if the manufacturer freezes all their cigars.

Bruce.
 

herfdog

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The photos seemed to defiantly show beatle damage but the damage was very limited. I'm sure it has been several months since that cigar was rolled. I don't know but I would think that there would be more damage if the beetle(s) were alive for several months. It makes me think that the company froze the cigar like most do now and therefore the little bugger only ate for a few days. If that is the case then the chance of your humidor being infested is zero. I wonder if anyone know if the manufacturer freezes all their cigars.

Bruce.
Beetle eggs are dormant until they wake up, at wich point they aim out and start laying eggs... so you would not see tunelling, but only escape holes.
 
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