WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURES
A woman ended up in hospital after bees took up temporary home in her eye, feasting on her tears and sweat.
Photos show four 3-millimetre-long bees living inside the woman's eye - something medics are calling a 'world first'.
The woman, named as Ms He, attended Fooyin University Hospital in Taiwan's southern county of Pingtung when she inadvertently became host to the insects after visiting a cemetery.
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Professor Hung Chi-ting, the hospital's head of ophthalmology, says it's a world first as the insects have never been found alive in someone's eye before.
Describing the moment he spotted the insect, he said: "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.
"They were four sweat bees."
Ms He, who is in her 20s, revealed how she came into contact with the bees, saying: "We were visiting and tidying a relative's grave, and I was squatted down pulling out weeds.
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"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."
So, she took herself off to hospital where she was looked at by Dr Hung Chi-ting who discovered the tiny insects, which are part of the Halictidae family. However, the exact species hasn't been named yet.
Speaking during a press conference, Professor Hung Chi-ting said that his patient now suffered from cellulitis and keratitis, a bacterial skin infection and inflammation of the eye's cornea, as a result of the bees feasting inside her eye for four hours.
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Explaining how she came into contact with the bees, he said: "They nest near graves and in fallen trees, so it's easy to come across them while hiking in mountains."
He added that the bees are attracted to the salty sweat and tears from humans.
Despite the grisly-looking photos, Ms He has since been discharged from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Featured Image Credit: AsiaWireTopics: World News, Weird, Health