In private more than anything: Yes. In private, it's okay, but you still shouldn't really overdo it. There are some words that I hate being called no matter what, such as sweety and darling and uh... yeah, sweety and darling. You know how they say it all stereotypically-homosexual-like? Yeah, that's what I hate. When they say it to you and you're not even their partner, you're just a friend or something. Affectionate words like that are yucky when used between friends.

I use honey a lot when talking to girlfriends and even some very close friends, but more often than not it's in private. It's always better in the long run to just have a personal nickname for them. It's just plain better.