It works in other caves like Mt. Coronet, and if I accidentally used it at Wayward Cave's entrance where there are no Pokemon, shouldn't it say, "It seems like there is nothing here."? Note that I was not with Mira at that time.
The answer is actually pretty simple, in Wayward Cave, the Honey "faded away for some reason" because you didn't use Flash yet. I first tried using Honey without using Flash and it didn't work, I then used Flash and then used the Honey and it worked! However, this is not the case for the Distortion World because (as far as I know) you don't use flash in the Distortion World. I would test and try to find out why the Honey fades in the Distortion World but I can't because I only have Diamond. I do however, have a clue as of why the Honey fades. The Honey might fade because the Honey/Sweet Scent animation doesn't play. The animation does play when "there appears the be nothing here" but it doesn't play when "the sweet scent faded away for some reason."
Hope this helps!