Randy McCaffrey
Randy McCaffrey has 31 years as a contractor and structural claims specialist. At the age of forty he developed a fascination with honey bees. He discovered beekeeping after assisting his brother who is also a beekeeper, with the live removal (cut out) of a bee hive in an old furniture warehouse. In 2010 armed with his knowledge of construction and his newfound fascination with bees he began removing and relocating feral bee colonies from commercial and residential structures along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As of June of 2022, the number of cut outs he has done total approximately nine hundred and fifty and swarm catches total approximately five hundred.
Randy typically keeps forty to fifty colonies. His family, including himself, his father and his brother, keep approximately two hundred and fifty colonies total. He conducts studies in much of his work such as mite count and disease studies in feral or otherwise chemically untreated bee colonies. He video records much of his work and shares this work through social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to educate, entertain and inspire current and future 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 by recently adding a subsidiary named Coastal Grove Bee Works which will focus on honey sales and a ladies apparel line.