keep away from beehives and bee-trees as
well as from the great gray, papery nests of the wasp; but the hornets
or yellow-jackets have an uncomfortable habit of building in low bushes
and on the ground where you may literally put your foot in a hornets'
nest.

They are hot-tempered little people, these same hornets, as I have
reason to know. Twice I have been punished by them, and both times it
was my head they attacked. Once I found them, or they found me, in a
cherry-tree; and the second time we met was when I stepped in their nest
hidden on the ground. Their sting is like a hot wire pressed into the
flesh. When angered they will chase you and swarm around your head,
stinging whenever they can; but they may be beaten off if some friendly
hand will wield a towel or anything else that comes handy.

If the stings of any of these stinging insects are left in the wounds
they should be taken out with a _clean_ needle or _clean_ knife-blade.
In any case mix some mud into a paste and plaster it on the parts that
have been stung. If you are in camp and have with you a can of
antiphlogistine use that instead of the mud; it is at least more sightly
and is equally efficient in reducing inflammation.

Various things have been devised as protection against insect torments.

One is a veil of net to be worn over the hat. You will find this
described in Chapter IV under the heading of Personal Outfits.

=Dopes=

Then there are dopes to be rubbed over the face, neck, and hands. The
three said to be the best are Nessmuk's Dope, Breck's Dope, and H. P.
Wells's Bug-Juice. There is also a Rexall preparation which, I am told,
is good while it stays on, but will wash off with perspiration.

=Nessmuk's Dope=

In giving the recipe for his dope, Nessmuk says that it produces a glaze
over the skin and that in preventing insect bites he has never known it
to fail. This is the dope:

Pine tar 3 oz.
Castor oil 2 oz.
Oil of pennyroyal 1 oz.

Simmer all together over a slow fire, and bottle.

This is sufficient for four persons for two weeks.

=Breck's Dope=

Pine tar 3 oz.
Olive (or castor oil) 2 oz.
Oil of pennyroyal 1 oz.
Citronella 1 oz.
Creosote 1