Ontario Premier Doug Ford made headlines around the world last week with the inadvertent insect ingestion incident that could very well define his political career beyond provincial borders.

And after becoming a household name outside of Ontario with his now-iconic "Holy Christ, I just swallowed a bee" outburst, the premier is doubling down on his newfound comedic fame with some uncharacteristically self-aware bee-related humour.

Appearing at an AMO conference in Ottawa on Monday morning, Ford opened his remarks by pretending to cough up the unfortunate bee who met its untimely demise in the premier's digestive tract.

👋🏾 I'm here at the @AMOPolicy in Ottawa where Doug Ford kicked off the conference with a fake coughing fit with a fake bee. The rest of his speech was much of the same: cars of the future, clean/green steel, highways...

If you're here and want to chat climate, let's connect pic.twitter.com/ocv1rl1Mv4

— Fatima Syed (@fatimabsyed) August 15, 2022

In a seemingly successful attempt to take control of his latest comedic gaffe, Ford came out buzzing with an almost two-minute comedic rant about opposition bee drones and the 1980s blockbuster movie E.T.

After greeting the crowd, Ford fakes a cough and presents a small prop bee, saying, "I finally got him! He's been hanging around for a while. He's twice the size he came in as."

No, really. He had a prop bee in tow.

Premier Ford speaks at @AMOPolicy #AMO2022 https://t.co/Wj7cQV40WN

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) August 15, 2022

For those out of the loop, Ford appeared to discuss major issues with Ontario's health care system in Dundalk, only for the presser to go off the rails when a bee flew directly down the premier's throat and into the annals of Canadian political history.

The Doug Ford bee incident has since spawned countless memes and even a Twitter account describing events from the bee's perspective.

Doug Ford's reaction to swallowing a bee has made headlines well beyond Ontario, picked up by domestic news outlets as far off as Vancouver, as well as international headlines in publications including NPR and CBS News.