Bee of the Genus <i>Apis</i> on a Flower (IMAGE) Washington University in St. Louis Caption Honey bees act like tiny vacuums, sucking up whatever is in their environment. And one ubiquitous contaminant is manganese, used in the manufacture of steel and in a gasoline additive. New research shows that it makes bees less efficient foragers at levels considered safe for humans. Credit Maciej A. Czyzewski Usage Restrictions this file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. It must be attributed License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.