Stunned doctors have removed four bees living under a woman's eye in what is believed to be a world first.
The young woman went to hospital complaining of a swollen eye earlier this week and was horrified to discover the insects had been feeding on her tears.
All four bees were removed alive from the 29-year-old's tear duct after medics at Fooyin University Hospital spotted insect legs, reports the New York Post.
Speaking at a press conference, the hospital’s head of ophthalmology 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.”
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The woman - from Taiwan who has only been referred to by her surname, He - believes the bees got into her eye when she was pulling weeds from a family member's grave.
She thought some soil had flown into her eye and tried to wash it out with water, but later that evening she felt a sharp stinging pain under her eyelid.
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He’s eyesight, and the lives of the bees, were saved by the fact she had not rubbed her eyes.
The small bees, known as Halictidae or “sweat bees”, are attracted to human perspiration and are found all over the world. They mostly nest near graves and in fallen trees.
