@Kinnikinnick Instead of starting a new thread for this question, I just dug up a recent NET thread.
A thread over on ECF mentioned ordering tobaccos during winter times only, due to possible issues concerning beetle larva, when the temps reach 70 degrees.
I was checking out some possible tobacco candidates on Pipes & Cigars, and wondered what your experiences were, with the possible issue due to the warmer temps.
Better off waiting until winter?
(I think) that (in Northern Hemi) Tobacco harvest tends towards being in early Fall. It appears that a fair number of tins of Pipe Tobacco are aged somewhat (months/years) - thus obscuring such āprecisionā ?
I didnāt think it was āthatā critical, but figured Iād check. Eh, whatās a couple of larva among friends?
I think that Iāve determined (at least one of) the right critter(s):
.
Here is a picture of one of the little buggers (adults in range of 2-3 mm size):
Source: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/stored/cigarette_beetle02.jpg
.
Life History:
The length of the cigarette beetle life cycle is highly dependent on temperature and the food source but usually takes 40 to 90 days. Females lay 10 to 100 eggs in the food and the larvae emerge in six to 10 days. After feeding for five to 10 weeks, during which they go through four to six instars, the larvae excavate a protective cell in the feeding substrate or build a protective cocoon from bits of food and debris. Pupation takes from one to three weeks. After emerging the adults live from one to four weeks. In warmer climates there may be five or six overlapping generations. Development periods of 26 days at 37Ā°C and 120 days at 20Ā°C have been reported. Development is incomplete at 17Ā°C and adults die when exposed to 4Ā°C for six days.
Source: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/stored/cigarette_beetle.htm
Seems like if you canāt beet 'em, then perhaps instead franchise them(?):
I pondered this a while back myself. I emailed the folks at Leaf Only. Their suggestion for ridding loose leaf tobacco of any larvae was to freeze the leaf for at least 72 hours; afterwardsā¦ thawing, washing, and air drying the leaf. This has been my go to routine for loose leaf tobacco. 
So far, no little buggies!
What about the tins of tobacco, from, lets say Pipes & Cigars?
Just rank speculation.
It seems unlikely that the relative-humidity inside Pipe Tobacco tins is as high as the 70%-80% said to be ideal for procreation. Bugs need Oxygen to breathe - which may become limited inside sealed tins.
Well, live bugs / larva vs dead, suffocated bugs / larva are a very close 1A & 1B at the top of my do not want list.
(Perhaps), ādonāt knock 'em until youāve tried themā ?
I would say that from the curing process to the tinā¦ thereās a whole lot of handling, shredding, tumbling, pressure treating, etcā¦ which goes into the final product. I would be very surprised if any little larvae made it through that process. And even if they didā¦ Iām not too worried about it all. Iām sure that we ingest plenty of natures finest and not so finest bits on a daily basis! 
That was my first thought, when first heard the winter vs summer ordering issue. Who really wants to know just what, exactly, was in that chili covered coney dog? We seem to have survived this long. On top of it weāre forcing it through a 1 or 2 micron filter, to boot.
Iāve been eyeballing a few candidates. Should be pulling the trigger before too long.
My fav! Gimme 4 dogsā¦Chicago style! 
Social distancingā¦ curbside pick up only!
My suggestionā¦ steer clear of the aromatics. A good Burley flake will do you right. 
Awww manā¦ torpedoed amidships. Howād you know I was checking out the aromatics?
I was thinking about those as secondary, or complimentary flavors, for a hybrid. I wanted them to give a little personality twist, to my present synthetics. The plan was to start low, and see what they add. I thought that I might find a happy medium of adding a bit of NET flavor, and still maintain a reasonable amount of dry burning / wick swapping.
The Burleys have a way of overwhelming my palate - maybe the ācigarette beetlesā, too ? The ācasingsā added to the āaromaticā Tobaccos/blends (might) provide more attractive and/or nutritional food for the happy little larvae and pupae - but it might be a shame to forgo the pleasures of such, only out of worry about a little ābug proteinā ? Storing my NET extracts sealed in glass at ~50 *F (in refrigerator) over the last years time or so, I am starting to see something of a foamy, kind of ācrustyā cloud appearing in one (perhaps a tad in a second bottle). The stuff floats (but would likely be very hard to effectively extricate).
It may be fungal; perhaps bacterial. The most that one can do is filter the initial extract to ~2 Microns or less - which appears to likely be small enough to block spores of things like Aspergillus fumigatus (by far the most potentially problematic fungal organism). However, it is ubiquitous - we all inhale something like around 500 (or so) spores each day. So I do what I can - but may be needing to replace the affected NET extracts (if this crud āescalatesā in quantity over time). Sealed glass refrigeration is recommended !
Update (May 14, 2020): The settled NET extracts appear free of the āfrothā that I saw (paricularly in one bottle, a bit in the other). Evidently, what I described above is the result of my shaking-up the containers - so Iām hoping that my efforts are not lost. The ācrusty looking foamā that appeared was a bit unsettling.
Let me share my first attempt too, if you donāt mind.
Iām using Captain Black, Royal. With an eye on Amphora, Full Aroma for a future adventure.
Mixed using PG about 300 cc soaking about 30 gms of the tobacco.
I couldnāt stop myself from trying it even though itās been just a few days thus far. Itās not bad, not bad at all.
Itās a monster coil gunker however.
How long do you reckon should the steeping time be?
Do I need to heat up the extract after filtering it? I mean to partially sterilise it?
Depending on how you started your macerationā¦ heat bump start (30/90 days) or cold start (90/365 days).
Heating the extract after filtering is not necessary. I would sterilize the glass storage jar, prior to long term storage of your extract.
Iāve been extracting and storing extracts since ā15. Not once has there been any evidence my extracts have āgone badā due to foreign growth in the glass storage jars.
Coil gunkingā¦ Thatās a bitch 
