While bees and wasps are similar in size, hornets are typically larger and most have a black and white pattern instead of the traditional yellow. Wasps stand apart with their slim waist. Hornets, which are a type of wasp, do not share this characteristic and are rather bulky. At the same time, wasps, hornets included, have less hair on their bodies as they’re not interested in collecting pollen, which is why they don’t even have pollen baskets on their legs. Another big difference is that honey bees have barbed stingers which they can only use once before they die, whereas wasps and hornets have straight stinger with only one small barb. This allows them to pull out the stinger safely and live to sting another innocent bystander.