Why no sugar? Honey is 82% sugar, so what’s the difference?
Anyway, I make a water Challah that uses rather little sugar. I use 1 teaspoon of sugar per cup of white flour. For a 5# bag, that would be 19 teaspoons = 1/3 cup and one tablespoon.
I put the sugar in warm water with yeast for about 1/2 hour, sometimes up to an hour. By the time the yeast-water is added to the flour, much of it has already been processed by the yeast.