There are many types of wasps. The most common are:

Paper Wasp (Polistes, multiple species)
The paper wasp is ¾ to 1 inch long, a reddish or brown insect with yellow markings and membranous wings. Its nest is a paper-like shelter resembling a honeycomb. The nest is commonly constructed under house eaves or window ledges.

Yellow Jacket (Vespula, multiple species)
A small black wasp about ¾ inch-in length with yellow or white markings, the yellow jacket usually nests in a hole in the ground, excavated first by the founding queen and later enlarged steadily by workers.

Baldfaced Hornet (Vespula)
A robust ¾-inch black wasp of the genus Vespula, with yellow or white markings, its nest consists of several to many tiers of hexagonal paper cells, all enclosed in a papery envelope. Usually built in the open, the nest is attached to branches, under a porch or beneath any projecting surface. The football shaped nest may be nearly a foot in diameter.

Bumble Bee (Bombus, multiple species)
A robust insect averaging 1 inch in length, black and yellow in color, it is densely covered with hairs. The male is short-lived, but the fertilized female remains to complete the life cycle. Bumblebees form colonies, mate in late summer, and the fertilized female survives the winter by hibernation to start a new colony in the spring. At full-development, a colony may have several hundred bees. Nests are made of wax cells, generally located in abandoned rodent burrows, mulch, or under logs or debris. Bumblebees may also nest in holes in house walls or under slab foundations.

Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
The 2/3 inch long honeybee, golden brown and covered with hairs, forms permanent colonies that may survive indefinitely in nests or hives made of wax cells, having at full development a colony of 50,000 to 80,000 bees. New colonies are formed by the migration of the old queen, attended by a number of worker bees. A new virgin queen emerges and continues the original colony. Males are expelled from the hive in autumn and die. Most colonies are in manmade hives. Escaped swarms usually nest in a hollow tree, in holes in a wall or under slab foundations.