BEWARE THE CIGAR BEETLE

Just when you thought it was safe to open your humidor ...

You see the dreaded cigar beetle has devastated your entire collection of smokes. As if maintaining humidity, choosing good cigars, and getting a good cutter aren't enough, now you have to worry about bugs in your stogies.

Cigar beetles can quickly devastate your entire collection if they aren't noticed and controlled quickly. Like termites to wood, cigar beetles will crawl through cigars, leaving holes all over — and they multiply like crazy.

The eggs of the beetle are smaller than the eye can see and are frequently in the cigars you smoke. Nothing happens to them unless the temperature in your humidor gets up to 72 degrees, and then they can hatch.

The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to make sure your humidor is in a cool, dry place. Another option is to freeze your cigars for a few days, then let them thaw slowly, putting them your humidor. This will kill all the eggs before they can hatch.

If you find that you've been infected, remove all the bad cigars and toss them. Take the rest of your cigars out of your humidor, and ensure they are lower than 72 degrees or freeze them. Some people will even freeze their humidor to make sure the eggs in the cedar are killed.

With a little know-how and a close eye, you can make sure you never get infested with the beetle.