10/21/2024
LIKE & SHARE https://ohiostatebeekeepers.org/event/osba-fall-conference/
If you want to know "Where Hobby Beekeeping Is A Way of Life," come see YouTube's Favorite ~ Mr. Randy McCaffrey "628 Dirt Rooster". Bring your markers to have him sign your favorite bee gear.
In 2010, at the age of forty, Randy McCaffrey assisted his brother Thomas in the removal of a honey bee colony from an old furniture warehouse. This experience began his development of a fascination with honey bees. That year, armed with his extensive knowledge of construction gained over thirty-two years as a contractor and structural claims specialist, he began removing and relocating feral bee colonies from commercial and residential structures. As of the summer of 2024, the number of cutouts (hive removals/relocations) he has done a total of approximately twelve hundred and swarm catches a total of approximately five hundred.
Randy typically keeps forty to fifty colonies of his own but regularly works alongside large commercial beekeeping operations purely for the enjoyment and education to be gained. His family, including himself, his father and his brother, keep approximately two hundred and fifty colonies in total. Much of his work with bee removals includes mite load and disease resistance studies in feral or otherwise chemically untreated honey bee colonies. He video records much of his work, which he shares through social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to help educate, entertain, and inspire current and future generations of beekeepers. His work can be found on most large social media platforms under the channel name 628DirtRooster with the tagline “Where Hobby Beekeeping Is a Way Of Life”.
Randy along with his wife Elizabeth are continuing to grow their beekeeping business. They recently added a subsidiary, Coastal Grove Bee Works, which will focus on mentoring, honey sales and a lady’s beekeeping apparel line.
