In a case that sounds like a horror movie but is frighteningly real, doctors at Taiwan’s Fooyin University Hospital made a shocking discovery when a young woman complained of eye pain – four live bees living inside her eyelid and feeding on her tears.
According to Dr. Hung Chi-ting, the hospital’s head of ophthalmology who treated the patient, the 29-year-old woman, identified only as Ms. He, was tending to a relative’s grave during the annual Qing Ming tomb-sweeping festival when a gust of wind blew something into her eye. Like many of us would, she initially brushed it off as dirt or sand.
“She tried to wash it out with water but the pain only got worse,” Dr. Hung told reporters at a press conference. “By the time she reached our hospital, she could barely open her eye and was experiencing severe pain.”
What happened next would stun even the most experienced medical professionals. During examination under a microscope, Dr. Hung discovered four tiny sweat bees, each about 4 millimeters in length, living inside the woman’s tear duct.
According to National Geographic, which reported extensively on the case, sweat bees, also known as Halictidae, are attracted to human sweat and tears due to their high protein content.
While they’re commonly found in mountainous areas and graves, this is the first documented case of them living inside a human eye.
“I saw something that looked like insect legs,” Dr. Hung recalled during the hospital’s press conference. “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.”
The woman had unknowingly provided the perfect environment for the bees to survive. According to BBC’s coverage of the incident, the moist, dark space inside her eyelid had become an inadvertent habitat for the tiny insects, which were feeding on her tears.
Most remarkably, as reported by CNN, the woman’s decision not to rub her eyes likely saved her sight. “She was wearing contact lenses so she didn’t dare to rub her eyes in case she broke the lens. If she had rubbed her eyes, she could have squashed the bees and caused severe damage to her eyes,” Dr. Hung explained.
Following the careful removal of the bees, Ms. He made a full recovery, though she developed cellulitis and severe corneal erosion from the incident. The hospital successfully treated her condition with antibiotics.
The case, which occurred in 2019, garnered worldwide attention and was documented in several medical journals, serving as a reminder of nature’s ability to surprise even the most experienced medical professionals.
[Editor’s Note: This story has been independently verified through multiple credible news sources and official medical documentation from Fooyin University Hospital. The case was presented at a formal press conference where microscopic images of the extracted bees were shown to journalists. Dr. Hung Chi-ting’s quotes and medical details have been confirmed through multiple sources and medical records.]