Doctors Find Four Live Bees Inside Woman's Eye

TAIWAN: Taiwanese woman went to her doctor with a swollen eye, she thought it was just a simple eye infection. Doctors were shocked to find four live bees inside the woman’s eye.

Doctors at the Fooyin University Hospital found the bees were still alive and living inside her eye. The bees were feeding on her tears.

Dr. Hong looking with a microscope

The doctors have been able to get the bees out of her eyes, all of them alive.

The twenty-eight-year-old woman is identified by just her surname and is being referred to Ms. He.

Dr. Hong Chi Ting managed to pull out the 4 mm insects out by their legs. He said he was shocked to find all the bees still alive and feeding on her tears.

Dr. Hong Chi Ting also said Ms. He has been discharged and will be making full recovery very soon.

Ms. He

The small bees are known as Halictidae and are also called sweat bees. These sweet bees are attracted to human perspiration. According to a study they feed on human tears as tears have a high content of protein in them.

These bees are usually not aggressive. But they may sting only if they are touched.

Speaking at a press conference, Dr. Hung Chi-ting said:

“I saw something that looked like insect legs, so I pulled them out under a microscope slowly, and one at a time without damaging their bodies.”

“I grabbed the leg and very slowly took one out, then I saw another one, and another and another. They were still intact and all alive.”

How Did The Sweet Bees Get Inside Her Eye

Ms. He Was at Her Relatives Grave When it Happened

As part of annual Chines Qing Ming Tomb sweeping festival, Ms. He was at her relatives’ graves.

The sweet bees flew into her left eyes as she was weeding around the graves.

At first she thought it was just dust particle when the wind blew into her eye.

She had to seek medical help as her eyes were still swollen and in pain even after hours of waiting.

Ms He was lucky she did not rub her eyes as she was wearing her contact lenses.

Dr. Hong said if she had rubbed her eyes it could have induced the bees to produce their venom. The venom could have blinded her left eye.

Halictidae also known as sweat bees

Where Are the Sweet Bees?

Dr Hong said

“They are still alive, they’ve been sent as specimens to another organization and will be studied,”
“This is the first time in Taiwan we’ve seen something like this