European honey bees, such as those in the US, lack this adaptation, which is a big part of why it's important to prevent V. mandarinia colonizing the US.
I believe V. mandarinia are also significantly more dangerous to humans. Nearly as many people are killed by them in Japan every year (30-40 according to wikipedia) as are killed by hornets, wasps and bees combined in the US (62 per year on average: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6829a5.htm) Bear in mind those figures aren't per-capita.
Their size gives them a larger venom dose per sting, and I gather they're more inclined to sting repeatedly than other wasps. I think I remember reading their venom is actually more toxic by volume than the usual as well, but not so sure there. Either way, you're quite right.
I'm pretty cavalier about risking stings for the most part, because I'm familiar enough with bees and wasps to know how to avoid making them feel threatened, and I'm not allergic in any case - and taking a calculated risk, for the chance at an excellent photo, is in my estimation worth it. Even so, I think I'd be very hesitant to approach a V. mandarinia individual unless I was very certain her nest was nowhere nearby. Maybe not even then. Calculated risk is one thing, but with these I'm not at all sure the math works out.
All that aside, I'm more worried about the risk to bees than that to humans, who are only ever attacked incidentally by wasps in any case. Our primary pollinators are already under threat enough without having to face the hymenopterans' answer to a Terminator.
