Stumped about small hive oddly lacking honey (7)
I believe the answer is:
sweetie
'honey' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'stumped about small hive oddly lacking' is the wordplay.
'stumped' becomes 'st' (I've seen this in other clues).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'small' becomes 'wee' ('wee' can be similar in meaning to 'small'**).
'oddly lacking' indicates alternate letters.
The alternating letters of 'hive' are 'ie'.
'st' going around 'wee' is 'sweet'.
'sweet'+'ie'='SWEETIE'
(Other definitions for sweetie that I've seen before include "Darling" , "Maybe boyfriend" , "dear" , "treasure?" , "Term of endearment" .)