The bees will chew at the wires. Sometimes chewing holes in the foundation. Other times they will draw the foundation out and not bother the wires. But usually they don't like the wire. It is best to just to embed the wires . There will likely be less problems. You can try skipping it but I wouldn't.
Bees seem to be much more inclined to chew at vertical wires, and ignore horizonal wires. I don't know why. I have seen horizontal wires so far from the center rib that some cells were unusable.
This is not absolute, the presence or absence of a flow when you add the foundation is important too. They need to draw them out quickly, or they may chew up foundation anyway. In other words, don't put foundation on the bees, until they spring flow has started.
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