Don’t let wasps spoil your jubilee picnic – be like an Argentinian, not like a badger | Seirian Sumner

Wasps are ecologically and economically important - and they don't want to sting you, they just want your sugar and sausages

Every summer, with the predictability of hay fever and impromptu barbecues, I am asked by friends, family, strangers and the media: What's the point of wasps?"

Although some people will be starting to worry about wasps as they set out their jubilee picnics this bank holiday weekend, wasp complaint season usually kicks off in mid-August in the UK. It's my summer holiday calibrator, and generally peaks just about the time when I've started to unwind from the busy chaos of my life as an academic. I'm not grumbling (my family does that for me); I never turn down the chance to evangelise about wasps. But I am beginning to sound like a stuck record.