A 17th-century vicar’s pioneering work with bees is helping Wootton St Lawrence Church inspire a new generation to care for God’s creation.
Revd Charles Butler was the vicar of the church near Basingstoke and is regarded as the father of beekeeping. His groundbreaking book ‘The Feminine Monarchie’, published in 1623, transformed the understanding of bees.
Known as the ‘church for beekeepers’, St Lawrence holds an annual beekeepers’ service and blessing of the honey. It gives thanks for the work of bees, their faithful pollination and the honey they produce. In the church, the connection with Charles Butler is remembered through a special window dedicated to his memory and work.
Curate Revd Ceri Deosun said, “It’s so important to understand how we are harming creation and what we can do to take better care of it, and bees are vital to that. They are important to our ecosystem, so we should be doing all we can to protect our wildlife, our insects, and especially bees, but also care more generally for creation, how we look after our world and how we live our lives.”
Charles Butler’s connection with the church is also helping members of the congregation share the story of bees. For three years, the church has held a ‘Bee Fair’ and in 2023, marking the 400th anniversary of his book, the Charles Butler 400 Foundation was created to take the story into the community.
The Foundation has visited schools, sixth form colleges and community events, hoping to inspire people to discover more about bees, their role in our ecosystem and food supply, and encourage people to become better stewards of the world.
It also highlights the loss of habitats and the decline in some bee species.
Trustee and church member Barbara Robson said, “It’s how you tell the story, how you engage, and how hopefully you get people to either make personal changes or form a group like Eco Church. The problem can seem so big and overwhelming when you start looking at the stats, but we can do it together, being inspired by nature, realising that nature can restore and renew itself if it’s given the chance and space.
“The stats show that we need to sit up and do something to look after our bees. We’re part of a bigger world that God’s created. We are called to restore it.”
The Foundation has also taken the church’s story to various events including local Green Weeks and this summer, took part in a 16-week exhibition working alongside the Hampshire Cultural Trust.
The story has already reached hundreds of children. Through its ‘What’s all the buzz about?’ programme, the Foundation has spoken to around 900 primary school pupils.
Trustee Ken Robson added, “The teachers absolutely love the story and the connection. The story about nature, and the bees, and what we can learn from bees, really makes it worthwhile.”
The Foundation also encourages people to think about what bees can teach us about service, community and cooperation.
Barbara continued, “There’s a lot of connections people can make with bees and how we can learn from them. Bees can show us how to work as a team, where our place in the world is and how we can contribute to the wider circle of life. The larvae bees are supported by their hive community, the Queen bee lives to serve and provide, and we are all part of a community that sits under God’s care.”
Ken Robson is also a beekeeper and sells honey to raise funds for the project. He added, “Our message is simple – that if you take a teaspoonful of honey, that teaspoon represents 150,000 flowers a bee has visited in its lifetime. Something so small can produce something that we almost take for granted, it’s wonderful.
“In the colony everything they do is by touch, by sense, by pheromones, by chemistry. They know the strength of the individual, but they know the strength of the whole hive, which is about survival, regeneration, and moving through the seasons. This tiny creature is so important in our world and can make such a difference, and we want to make sure people understand that and the next generation can take that forward.”
The church and the Charles Butler 400 Foundation are now looking for new opportunities to share the story of Charles Butler, the importance of bees, and the call to care for creation.
