Back buds form at old nodes, primarily. Sure, it’s “possible” for pines to bud at old needle locations, but that’s relatively infrequent, and certainly not reliable. By wiring a branch out, it tends to expose the supporting branches and the old nodes to the sun, increasing the chance for backbudding. No, it won’t back bud directly under the wire.@Adair M God damn thats a delicious reply!!! One caveat, I assume spring/summer wire will potentially prevent back buds from forming, at least directly where the wire is placed. This could be detrimental, or, maybe this can be used as a way to dictate where you want back buds to pop up?
Most “budding” activity occurs over the winter. another reason why fall is the best time to wire. The bending of branches that happens when you wire (if you don’t bend the branch why did you wire it?) creates little micro tears in the bark and cambium that when exposed to the sun create conditions conducive to budding. Over the winter.