Would you be brave enough to clasp a writhing, angry honeybee in tweezers and let it sting you? How about 30 stings at a time — several times a week over the course of an entire summer — in and around your armpit?

Longtime Toronto assistant director , 78, endures more than 1,200 stings in all in his documentary Me, the Bees and Cancer, a film he made in 2012 for less than $1,000 as one of five features funded through the 1K Wave Challenge, launched by director Ingrid Veninger and The Royal cinema’s Stacey Donen.

“If I’m on a TV movie or series, I would probably spend $1,000 on a lunch,” said Board to help put his meager budget in context. “A thousand dollars a day is barely taking care of your food on a smallish production.”

Diagnosed with cancer after he discovered a lump under his arm, Board chose to treat his illness with homeopathy, healthy diet and regular doses of bee venom — an ancient and medically controversial practice involving bee hive products called apitherapy — on and around his tumor…

Me the Bees and Cancer premieres at the Royal Cinema, 608 College St. W. June 21.