top of page

There are bugs, there are bugs ...

As you know, summer has come. We are in months when temperatures rise or even peak. This means that, if we are not careful, the conditions are beginning to mature for us to meet one of the most fearful dreams of cigar smokers, the sweet wolf or tobacco moth (Latin for lasioderma serricone). I shared information about this issue in one of my previous articles, such as in what kind of environments they breed or how to get rid of it.

By the way, I want to give another information in addition to that article. If you are suspicious of worming in any way, there is also a trap invented by our Japanese called New Serrico. This trap attracts males with the opposite sex hormone, the females with the smell of the bait, allowing them to cling to the trap and ultimately control the population. This gives you the opportunity to eliminate the problem in a short time. However, of course, you still need to find the source and the affected cigars and freeze them. The good thing about the trap is that it has no scent or essence, so you can easily use it in your humidor. Serrico traps are also sold in ten boxes in our country and you can obtain them using the contact information below.

KİMAGRO KİM. MAD. TAR. DIÇ. LTD. ŞTİ.

Yemiş Bazaar 855. Sokak No: 37 / A Kemeraltı / İZMİR

Tel: +90 232 489 4768

Actually, the position today is different. As I said in the title, there are bugs, there are bugs. The increase in air temperature and humidity does not only benefit Lasioderma Serricones. Like these, it also creates a suitable ground for the breeding of different pests or less harmful insects. Again, one of them is the White Wood Mites that have happened to me in the past and can happen to anyone who takes cigars with a wooden box and hides them in the humidor like this. Different in size and style from the sweetworm, these kinds of mites usually travel with cigar boxes (especially those of Cuban origin) stored in very humid environments, settling in your humidor and somehow emerge in an environment where moisture is confused. This can happen right after you buy your cigars or even after 6 months. And when you open your humidor one day, you may find these little pinhead-sized friends roaming quietly over your cigars.

Sad ending? On the contrary, I'll tell you right away ... DON'T BE AFRAID! Because these mites are not able to buy or exchange with your cigars. Approximately 0.5mm in size, these white / transparent colored creatures do not go into your cigars and live there, nor do they start to make holes. The only harm they do is, if their population grows too large, the cigar tapes will be opened, as they are fed with the adhesive of the cigar bands. Besides, of course, not so unpleasant visual pollution. So if you encounter such a situation, when you take your cigar in your hand, you may witness that they gather around more bands. As I said, although they are harmless, of course, nobody wants such creatures walking on their precious cigars.

Well, what will you do if you come across these little ones whose lifespans are 3-5 weeks? First of all, physically clean as much as you can. You can clean your cigars by hand and the walls of the humidor with a cloth moistened with distilled water. My advice is to get rid of your cigar box, which serves as a suitcase for mites, as soon as possible. You can then destroy whatever you may encounter sporadically in your humidor right on the spot. If you want to keep your box, you need to clean it thoroughly and go through the deep freezing process we do to get rid of the sweetworm. The only difference is that this process doesn't always work on these mites the first time, you may have to repeat it a few times. You don't need to freeze cigars.

I remember when it happened to me, I was quite afraid. Fortunately, I was relieved when I did some research.

I hope this article also sprinkled some water inside you before this situation happened to you. For the future, my advice is, especially if you have cigars that you keep to age in the box, be sure to have a routine eye checkup. Even this would be a good and adequate measure for early detection and getting rid of them.

Have a pleasant smoke for you all ...

bottom of page