4 Bees Lived Inside Woman's Eye, Feeding On Tears, In Unique Case

In a case that baffled doctors in Taiwan, four bees were found living in a woman's eye socket, feasting on her tears and sweat. Media reports Thursday stated that the patient, identified only with one name He, suffered from swollen eyes.

The patient, who is in her 20s, went to Fooyin University Hospital in Taiwan's southern county of Pingtung where doctors found the parasites in her eyes. It is believed that the insects got into her eye when she was pulling weeds with a relative.

Professor Hung Chi-ting, the hospital's head of ophthalmology, said the case is the "world's first" as the insects have never been found alive in someone's eye before. According to U.K.'s the Sun, sweat bees -- which live over 3,280 feet above sea level -- are attracted to perspiration and treat humans like a salt lick.

"I saw something that appeared to be insect legs, so I pulled them out under a microscope one at a time without damaging their bodies," he said while describing the moment he saw the bees. "They were four sweat bees... They nest near graves and in fallen trees, so it's easy to come across them while hiking in mountains."

The patient, who is from the south-western port city of Kaohsiung, recalled: "We were visiting and tidying a relative's grave, and I was squatted down pulling out weeds...I felt wind blowing into my face, then I felt something in my eye which I thought was sand or dirt."

"I cleaned my eye using water but it started hurting a lot at night, a sharp pain, and I was tearing up," she added.

The doctor spoke out in a press conference this week saying the patient suffered cellulitis (a bacterial skin infection) and keratitis (inflammation of the cornea). The infection was caused as a result of the bees eating from her eye for four hours.

The patient was treated and discharged from the hospital. Doctors said she is expected to make a full recovery.