# Bee sting to eyball? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152 "2008-07-11T16:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/1 "2008-07-11T16:52:32Z")
I’ve never heard of anyone getting stung in the eyeball by a bee, wasp or bumblebee. But it must happen occasionally, given the frequency of bee attacks. I wonder what happens to a human eye when it gets stung. Loss of eyesight? No permanent damage? Incredible pain must be a given but what else? Some stings I’ve received on my arms have transformed into hard, painful boils the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half. And I can hardly imagine what a swelling like that would to an eye, especially considering it is housed inside a bone socket. Horror stories are welcome. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/2 "2008-07-11T17:00:59Z")
[QUOTE=Toxylon] I’ve never heard of anyone getting stung in the eyeball by a bee, wasp or bumblebee. But it must happen occasionally, given the frequency of bee attacks. I wonder what happens to a human eye when it gets stung. Loss of eyesight? No permanent damage? Incredible pain must be a given but what else? Some stings I’ve received on my arms have transformed into hard, painful boils the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half. And I can hardly imagine what a swelling like that would to an eye, especially considering it is housed inside a bone socket. Horror stories are welcome. [/QUOTE] [It’s not too bad apparently.](http://www.honeybeeworld.com/misc/stings.htm) > [@](#): > > A sting in the eyeball is not to be desired, but we did have one fellow stung dead centre with no lasting effect – or pain for that matter. We rushed him to the doctor and the doctor took a look. He didn’t know exactly what to do either – other than to extract the remains of the stinger. Anyhow, nothing came of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/3 "2008-07-11T17:36:31Z")
IANAD/N, but I do work in ophthalmology. The eyeball is tougher than you’d think, more like leather than a grape, so I wonder if a sting would really puncture. For the above-mentioned case, if the sting was “dead center” that means it was in a thinner part of the eye. I suspect the real concern, assuming the patient isn’t allergic to beestings, would be the fear of infection due to the puncture. The doctor might dab something antibacterial on the area and then send the patient home with a bottle of standard antibiotic eyedrops, to be used for a few days afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/4 "2008-07-11T17:42:12Z")
When I was 7 a hornet got stuck behind my glasses and stung me in the corner of my eye socket (near the tear duct). Your eyeball may not have direct nerve endings in it, but let me assure you that your eye socket does. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/5 "2008-07-11T17:45:44Z")
[QUOTE=plnnr] When I was 7 a hornet got stuck behind my glasses and stung me in the corner of my eye socket (near the tear duct). Your eyeball may not have direct nerve endings in it, but let me assure you that your eye socket does. [/QUOTE] Eyeballs don’t have nerve endings? Why does it hurt to touch my eye? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/6 "2008-07-11T17:48:33Z")
Just the thought of getting stung in the eye is making my skin crawl. As **Ferret Herder** said, the sclera is surprisingly tough. The cornea, on the other hand, is comparatively fragile, and any injury to it is going to be painful with or without venom. Corneal abrasions, in particular, are going to keep you miserable for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/7 "2008-07-11T17:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Eyeballs don’t have nerve endings? Why does it hurt to touch my eye? -FrL- [/QUOTE] The link above said there wasn’t any pain when the person got stung in the eyeball so I assumed that meant there aren’t many (any?) pain receptors in the eyeball itself. There may well be. There are definitely pain receptors in the socket - that hurt like eight mf’s. ---
**Author:** ![Jiminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jiminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jiminator)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/8 "2008-07-11T18:19:12Z")
When I was young and at a summer camp I stepped on a yellow jacket nest and got stung about 40 times. I had no allergic reaction so the bumps and boils were relatively small but painful. One sting went through my eyelid and got me in the eyeball. I had a scratch on my eyeball that caused some redness for a few days, but the swelling of the eyelid was far worse and much more painful as I remember it. The other 40 some stings caused me more discomfort to really single out the scratch on my eyeball as being something horrible. I remember swiping at my face as I ran, I had a few stings on the face and knocked some of the bees off, but I definitely remember having to grab with my fingers and pull the bee out of my eye. That I will not forget. ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/9 "2008-07-11T20:32:08Z")
Now that is a horror story! Thanks(?) and condolences Jiminator! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/10 "2008-07-11T21:12:10Z")
[QUOTE=Jiminator] When I was young and at a summer camp I stepped on a yellow jacket nest and got stung about 40 times. I had no allergic reaction so the bumps and boils were relatively small but painful. One sting went through my eyelid and got me in the eyeball. I had a scratch on my eyeball that caused some redness for a few days, but the swelling of the eyelid was far worse and much more painful as I remember it. The other 40 some stings caused me more discomfort to really single out the scratch on my eyeball as being something horrible. I remember swiping at my face as I ran, I had a few stings on the face and knocked some of the bees off, but I definitely remember having to grab with my fingers and pull the bee out of my eye. That I will not forget. [/QUOTE] Jeeeeeez…that’s just fuckin’ medieval. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/11 "2008-07-11T21:36:09Z")
I think it would be something like this: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=LG1d6rUcMKc](http://youtube.com/watch?v=LG1d6rUcMKc) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/12 "2008-07-11T21:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] I think it would be something like this: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=LG1d6rUcMKc](http://youtube.com/watch?v=LG1d6rUcMKc) [/QUOTE] Wow. I gotta get out more. ---
**Author:** ![BikerHiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@BikerHiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BikerHiker)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/13 "2014-09-25T12:47:30Z")
I was on my bicycle the other evening around 6 pm when a wasp flew into my eye it got stuck under my bottom eyelid and stung me it felt as though my eye was set on fire. I had to pull my eyelid down and pull him out but I guess i was in his way . This is the third day and it now still feels as though i got flicked really hard in the eyeball, luckily i am not allergic :)…all in all its an experiance you can talk about ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/14 "2014-09-26T05:21:37Z")
Will bees be a part of the zombie apocalypse? Some years ago I was working at the Summerfest grounds. This woman comes up to me with a 10 year old boy and tells me she doesn’t know who he is but he’s injured. A honey bee not only stung him right in the freaking eyeball, the stinger was still stuck in it pumping away! This kids eye was swelled up like Balboas in the 12th round! :eek: Jesus Christ! I called paramedics and they treated him. But that’s not the kicker. The kicker is, the kid didn’t scream or cry or anything. Didn’t even yell. Tough little guy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![electroFAYSEE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@electroFAYSEE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/electroFAYSEE)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/15 "2014-09-28T02:40:53Z")
i love honey, so I like bees. but I hate wasps. i hate those little b\*\*\*\*es ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-sting-to-eyball/456152/16 "2014-09-28T05:57:24Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > I think it would be something like this: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=LG1d6rUcMKc](http://youtube.com/watch?v=LG1d6rUcMKc) Music sure has moved on since Jim Reeves.