Everyone hates wasps and hornets. If you don’t hate them, then you’re on the wrong website! But which is worse? I’m sure you’re thinking – Hornet – because the sting is worse and they can bite. I’m wondering if it could be wasp – because they like sweet food, sting for no reason and ruin al fresco dining. The following is the technical detail for both and I’ll let you decide.
If you have a nest, especially hornets, then don’t try and deal with it yourself (satisfying as that might be to see those evil devil spawn suffer). Instead call a pest control company like Rentokil and enjoy the massacre from a distance!
Wasp
Lifecycle
Young Queens overwinter and emerge in the spring to start nest building and lay eggs.
Workers (sterile females) emerge during early summer and take over nest building. Queen continues to lay eggs.
New queens and males mate in early autumn.
Nest dies during winter, including all the males and workers. Only Queens survive to the next year.
Habits
Colony size — medium to large (up to as many as 25,000 individuals).
Preferred nest sites — lofts, wall cavities, old rodent burrows, hollow trees and bushes.
Nest construction — pulped wood (paper). Combs set horizontally. A new nest is produced each year.
Swarming — does not swarm.
Food preferences — will take insects and sweet foods.
Stings readily and repeatedly.
Hornet
Large, up to 1.8 inches long. Wings are reddish-orange. Orange abdomen with brown stripes.
Lifecycle
Nests are founded in the Spring. Most die-off by late Autumn. Only the fertilized Queen overwinters.
Habits
Nesting – In sheltered places, e.g. tree trunks, bushes, sides of buildings, barns, attics, hollow walls. Their nests are grey and paper-like.
A colony can reach a size of 700 workers
Sting – Only sting when provoked. Sting is painful to humans. They can bite and sting at the same time. They can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defence which is highly dangerous to humans.
Feeding – Live insects and sap. Are not attracted to human food.
BugAdvisor.com 
Great post.
I wanted to see which was worse, since I was on the bus and all of a sudden I look down at my bag and a hornet was crawling on it, and I was about to jump in the seat in front of me which, was already occupied by someone, but each seat can have two people, sometimes 3. Instead I stayed at the edge of the seat instead of by the window. Then when the hornet was climbing up the window, I got the nerve to get closer and open up the window, which at first the window was stiff to open, so that was not much fun. Well, I returned to the edge of my seat, and that was when my bus driver asked what was wrong. I told her that a wasp was in my seat. I thought it was a wasp at the time, it was in the morning and still dark. My bus driver said I could sit in a boy’s seat who was not on the bus, and I decided just to wait until the next time she stopped. My bus driver instead of continuing on, she stopped at a gas station when she could. She is a pretty good bus driver. Well, she got up and I jumped into the seat she said I could go to and, she used a piece of paper to push the little hornet out. She was peaceful with it, so that she wouldn’t make the hornet made. She also told me that it was a hornet and not a wasp. Before she went to leave from the gas station, she asked if there were any more, and then people said no, but before we left, they found a wasp. This boy decided to try and hit, which made it quite mad, but the bus driver was still able to get the wasp out. When we got dropped off at the school, she notified someone who is in charge of that stuff, what there have been a hornet and 3 wasps on the bus. She also told them that there are people allergic on the bus, but most are just afraid. Again she is a good bus driver.
Well, that experience made me wander which is worse, and with what I read I think its a hornet. I thought hornet before, but I wanted to make sure, I asked my friend and she was like wasp I think, but I wasn’t sure. Now I know, and that’s great. 🙂
I was stung by a bald faced hornet yesterday afternoon…it was very painful, and i have been stung my just about every variety of bee and wasp. This was bad. It is the second time in my 60 years I have encountered one. Not common here in Nova Scotia, but they are here.
I went to this park before and there are wasps and hornets everywhere and this is embarrassing but wasps are my worst fear their face scares the liver out of me and how they fly is freaky. I was walking in the park when i saw if it was a wasp or a hornet but it looked scary so it had to be a wasp and also i went up to it. And i walk past it and the buzz freaked me out and it was following me and i think wasps are way more aggressive than hornets because hornets build nests all day. Wasps try to sting you if your close and then i ran and it went away but i noticed there was nests everywhere so i went back to my picnic blanket it was a close call. 😥😫