2026

Wasps are widely disliked. Renowned as unforgiving and unnecessary, delivering stings which they have the cheek to survive, unlike our beloved bees, often doomed to a single, fatal defence. But what if these wasps were just as much a farmer’s ally as pollinating bees?

It’s hard to believe how quickly the last six months have passed. The placement has flown by in a busy whirl of tubing samples, identification, data entry and analysis, and the occasional bits of fieldwork. Since September, much of our time has been concentrated in the lab, learning key invertebrate identification skills whilst working through samples collected during last summer.

With nearly 70% of Scotland’s land used for agriculture, farmers will play a key role in addressing the biodiversity and climate crises. In order to document what habitats are present and their condition, NatureScot has been developing tools to help farmers to quantify their habitats and how they are performing.