I have to stand up for the poor, misunderstood wasp ;) First of, most kinds of wasps are not especially aggressive, for example consider the hornet or any of the solitaries. The ones you are probably thinking of when you say "asshole wasps" are the Common Wasp, the German Wasp and the Yellowjacket, which are all social nest builders. They are also very well adapted to human habitats, so we often occupy the same space. I had to spend two seasons with nests of German Wasps near my porch (they are a protected species and only moved if absolutely necessary) before they were driven out by hornets (another social wasp).
Thus I can only talk about the Common and the German Wasps with confidence. Those are not assholes most part of their short lives. They are animals and as such show predictable behaviour. Corner them, squeeze them, go near their nest, or suffocate them (e.g. breath on them) and they defend themselves. Otherwise, a busy worker wasp will just ignore you, just like a bee would.
Unfortunatly worker wasps are only busy 9/10 if their lives. The last 1/10 are a spent in a drunken stupor. Once the nest closes down the worker wasps suddenly become homeless and unemployed. Devoid of purpose, they spend their remaining days binging on sugar and fat, looking for brawls (a little bit like football hooligans). Unfortunatly the hunger for sugar and fat brings them even more in contact with humans, because we are a ready source for all of this.
Still, we can manage, most of us are smarter than them. If you have a fixed position, e.g. a porch, take packaging paper and rumple it into a football sized contraption resembling a social wasps nest and hang it somewhere visible. Wasps try to avoid other nests. If you are lucky hornets nest nearby. Hornets are usually docile, very easy to spot and avoid, but they are fierce nest protectors. They also like to snack on wasps.
When camping, sacrifice a beer or other sugary substance by putting it very accessible in a bowl a 5 or so metres away from where you are sitting. Coordinate with your neighbors if it is crowded ;) Even hooligan wasps prefer the troublefree beverage to zipping around other troublesome animals (i.e. us). Last but not least, you can almost always wave individual wasps aside. Take a sheet of paper or handheld fan and slowly produce an airstream to keep them away from that sugary pie-hole in your face.
I have only been stung once in the last 10 years or so and only because the poor thing got entangled in my shirt and panicked.
Thus I can only talk about the Common and the German Wasps with confidence. Those are not assholes most part of their short lives. They are animals and as such show predictable behaviour. Corner them, squeeze them, go near their nest, or suffocate them (e.g. breath on them) and they defend themselves. Otherwise, a busy worker wasp will just ignore you, just like a bee would.
Unfortunatly worker wasps are only busy 9/10 if their lives. The last 1/10 are a spent in a drunken stupor. Once the nest closes down the worker wasps suddenly become homeless and unemployed. Devoid of purpose, they spend their remaining days binging on sugar and fat, looking for brawls (a little bit like football hooligans). Unfortunatly the hunger for sugar and fat brings them even more in contact with humans, because we are a ready source for all of this.
Still, we can manage, most of us are smarter than them. If you have a fixed position, e.g. a porch, take packaging paper and rumple it into a football sized contraption resembling a social wasps nest and hang it somewhere visible. Wasps try to avoid other nests. If you are lucky hornets nest nearby. Hornets are usually docile, very easy to spot and avoid, but they are fierce nest protectors. They also like to snack on wasps.
When camping, sacrifice a beer or other sugary substance by putting it very accessible in a bowl a 5 or so metres away from where you are sitting. Coordinate with your neighbors if it is crowded ;) Even hooligan wasps prefer the troublefree beverage to zipping around other troublesome animals (i.e. us). Last but not least, you can almost always wave individual wasps aside. Take a sheet of paper or handheld fan and slowly produce an airstream to keep them away from that sugary pie-hole in your face.
I have only been stung once in the last 10 years or so and only because the poor thing got entangled in my shirt and panicked.