I don't know. I had a hornet nest in my garden last year. They make a bit of a mess and you shouldn't go to near to their nest, but they are awesome insects and far better than wasps. They also eat them so you won't find that many flying around.
They are just the larger, more peaceful versions that somehow aren't interested in humans the slightest. Sadly, they move every year and this time around the wasps are back.
I mean, hornets are wasps, genus Vespa. Other social wasps tend to be largely peaceful as well; most of the polistids ("paper wasps") in particular are almost totally unconcerned with humans, although I understand some of the tropical and neotropical species can be fierce. Yellowjackets, genus Vespula and ironically more closely related to hornets than are other social wasps, mostly get the bad name, but that's mainly just because their underground nests are less obvious and thus easier to trespass on. But there's generally enough daytime traffic at nest sites to make them observable, if you're paying attention at least.
I'm careful to approach only lone foragers and not nests, and I have yet to be stung while taking pictures of any wasp, something I typically do from as close to my macro lens's six-inch minimum working distance as I can manage - usually within 12 inches (30cm). Hornet, yellowjacket, paper wasp, or solitary, they all seem about equally willing to leave me unbothered, so long as I don't bother them first. Happily, having a camera lens and flashes going off nearby doesn't seem to count as bothering!
They are just the larger, more peaceful versions that somehow aren't interested in humans the slightest. Sadly, they move every year and this time around the wasps are back.