Honey is a terrible environment for yeast. Too much sugar, not enough nitrogen, and very little to buffer massive pH swings. Throw some yeast in honey plus water (which further dilutes all the stuff above), and you get some really pissed off yeast that are stressed to the max. This is why you have off flavors. Add high temperature and you have a trifecta of bad flavors.
So, how do I fix it? Baby the yeast by adding DAP (diammonium phosphate, a free nitrogen source) and Fermaid K (Trace minerals and vitamins).
So that fixes trace nutrients, now you have to prevent pH swings. Add K2CO3 (potassium bicarbonate). This will add another trace nutrient potassium while also buffering the must to avoid pH swings.
Lastly, some yeast are more happy go lucky than others. As far as clean wine yeast, KIV-1116, DV10, EC1118 are nice. At temperatures below 70 F, 71B and D47 can be nice, but temperature must be low and you better rack frequently.
Recently, I've found Wyeast 1388 can produce a wonderful Mead very fast. Check out Bray's One Month Mead post for that info.
Hope that helps!