Cigarettes beetle.. Help

[Leftynick]

Howdy FTT members. Been a while since I last post anything here. I have been reading but doesn't habe time to post new thing.

Anyway, my early year harvest have been successfull. Few months of aging really turn it into good smokable product. I think another few months will help to turn it into very good tobacco. Especially the tn90 burley. However, when I checked into my stash today, I found that my burley tobacco infested with beetle. It have small holes everywhere. I have been storing this thing for few months without infestation.

Last week I sampled the tobacco rolled into cheeroot. Usually I push out every last air from the zip lock bag before storing. Maybe I have been careless and does not zip it properly so there are air inside the bag. Suddenly I noticed the bug today. I just wondering if the bug can infest through other way than being in contact with other tobacco. Because I checked my other tobacco and they are fine.did the bug can lay egg while I was curing them? My neighbourhood is not tobacco growing place so it is unlikely. I just wondering where are these bug coming from.

For now I am doing the freezer treatment. Hopefully my freezer are cold enough to kill all the bugs and the eggs. I dont mind few holes on the tobacco as I am planning to use them as pipe tobacco, but I am hoping these bug wont take a good portion of my limited supply.

 

[deluxestogie]

As indicated by its common name, the cigarette beetle is a pest of tobacco, both in the refined cigarette packet presentation and also as stored in hogsheads and bales, but is also a minor pest of oilcake, oilseeds, cereals, dried fruit, sage, flour, and some animal products.

The female beetle lays around 100 eggs loosely on the substrate to be fed upon. The larvae are active and will move around on and bore into the product, feeding as they go. The complete life cycle takes 26 days at 37 °C and 120 days at 20 °C. L. serricorne cannot tolerate the cold; adults die within 6 days at 4 °C, and eggs survive 5 days at 0–5 °C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasioderma_serricorne

[The emphasis is mine.]

You are doing the right thing.

Bob

 

[Leftynick]

Ouh, I do noticed some of the bug in old flour laying around the house. I thought it was a different species. Will be more vigilant after this. Thank you.

 

[GeraldMcLane]

Freezer treatment is the best way to restore the undamaged cigars. The cold temperature kills all stages of the beetles. Also, treating humidor is also important. Thoroughly dust the inside with a cloth, then wipe all the interior surfaces with a weak solution of ammonia and water. Do not use a pesticide; it will taint the cigars. Ammonia doesn't seem to affect the cigars and will kill any beetles that may have escaped notice. Inspect it closely with a flashlight before replacing your prized cigars back into the humidor. After trying this, if again you get troubled with these pests, best consult the pest control companies professional to get another idea or instructions.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Freezer treatment is the best way to restore the undamaged cigars. The cold temperature kills all stages of the beetles. Also, treating humidor is also important. Thoroughly dust the inside with a cloth, then wipe all the interior surfaces with a weak solution of ammonia and water. Do not use a pesticide; it will taint the cigars. Ammonia doesn't seem to affect the cigars and will kill any beetles that may have escaped notice. Inspect it closely with a flashlight before replacing your prized cigars back into the humidor. After trying this, if again you get troubled with these pests, best consult the pest control companies professional to get another idea or instructions.

It is totally unnecessary to hire anyone to treat your tobacco. Freezer treatment is 100% effective.

 

[Tutu]

As long as freeze for a longer duration. I would freeze for two weeks to be sure that eggs are also dead. Live beetles die first, then the eggs.

 

[snowboardin58]

Does anybody recognize these little orange eggs? This was on the WLT Nicaragua ligero. I was casing some and noticed it while unfolding the leaf portion.

 

[deluxestogie]

That's tough to identify. Could be butterfly eggs.

Bob

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

There are more species of Beetles (Class: Coleoptera) than there are all other species combined. You'd need an expert Entomologist to (maybe) identify these.

I agree withe the previous posts. Freeze 'em.

Wes H.

 

[snowboardin58]

Phew. At least they don't appear to be tobacco beetle eggs.

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

Bob:

How do the big commercial tobacco guys deal with Beetle infestation?

Wes H.

 

[deluxestogie]

They use pheromone traps for detection. If indicated, they can fumigate a warehouse with phosphine.

https://www.coresta.org/sites/default/files/technical_documents/main/Guide-No02-Fumigation_Oct13.pdf (53 K pdf)

Bob

 

[Tutu]

Shipments are always fumigated prior to shipping or at arrival. Either in a container or in a fumigation room. You can fumigate whole warehouses, or separate lots using canvas. Most warehouses use pheromone traps, or other types of traps, for instance mosquito-like light traps, in order to monitor infestation.

 

[burge]

I think the main point is that we are dealing with a agricultural product. Things happen and some leaf may not look perfect. Don has mentioned one leaf that did not look that great but was really good. Cosmetically perfect looking leaf does not mean it is good. So if you see something and I have I just cut it out and know what to expect.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Cosmetically perfect looking leaf does not mean it is good.

That's a good observation. I've definitely had homegrown tobacco that looked really good but wasn't ready to smoke. Then after the kiln, didn't look so good but was delicious.

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

Thanks Bob. Illuminating as ever.

Saddam Hussein is rolling over in his grave. Good 'ol nerve gas! Nothing quite like drowning in your own lung fluids.

They use a related product Aluminum Phosphide for fumigating stored grain. Nasty stuff that you need significant training to handle. Also a nerve agent. My stupid brother, who was hauling grain for the local co-op, had acquired several of the empty Aluminum Phosphide containers and wanted to use them for I don't remember what. I advised him of the nature of Aluminum Phosphide, and that he should get rid of those containers. This was several years ago and I think that now those containers would be considered hazardous waste with particular disposal protocols. He got rid of the containers.

Wes H.

 

[deluxestogie]

Many classes of insecticide work by binding to nerve endings so that the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine is no longer broken down. So the nerve is continuously stimulated, causing tonic muscle spasm. Diazinon, a commonly used insecticide, is, like many others, an organophosphate. This is the same family of chemicals that include sarin, soman, VX, and other banned chemical weapons.

You can ask bugs to die, or you can manually kill them, as with diatomaceous earth, or get something to eat them (from the inside or the outside), or you can poison them. The real issues with the use of any poison are the residual toxicity, specificity and safety to the user. Botulism death is caused by botulinum toxin (one that paralyses nerve endings). That's what so called "Bo-tox" injections consist of.

The truth is that most substances are poisonous in sufficient dose.

Bob

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

Of these things I am aware. I used to be a licensed pesticide vendor. It's the residue that I get concerned with. Got any Carbon Tetrachloride anyone? Just kidding about that one of course, but we used to sell it as a grain fumigant. Carbon Tet (a well known carcinogen) as well as a whole raft of other substances that were used in my younger days are all now banned. Partly because of their residual effects. Another one that we never used where I worked but was legal at the time (and used extensively in the Potato fields) was Methyl Bromide, a soil fumigant. Very deadly stuff. One that we did sell (now banned) was called Parathion. A nerve agent that had an LD 50 of 2. Methyl Bromide had an LD 50 if I remember correctly of 0.2.

The whole class of insecticides known as organophosphates were originally derived from gas-warfare research. Hence my slightly acidic comment about Saddam Hussein. More of my obscure humor.

But...my knowledge of pesticides is what brought about the question about beetle infestations on a commercial scale to begin with. I suspected the answer would be gas warfare, and you confirmed my supposition.

Oh...and by the way...Diazinon is banned now too.

Wes H.

 

[deluxestogie]

No pesticide background here. I did, however spend a bit of time at Aberdeen Proving Ground/Edgewood Arsenal, studying effects and remedies to many of our dandiest warfare solutions. Water has an LD 50 of about 90 cc / kg. So 9 liters will kill half of us. That might be considered a drinking problem.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Water has an LD 50 of about 90 cc / kg. So 9 liters will kill half of us.
Bob

So will being 100kg.