Sugar syrup rather than sugar?

I made some yeasted corn bread today. It called for honey. I didn't have any, so I used some orange syrup I had in the refrigerator.

The bread rose like a hot air ballon, over and over again, and made some very light and tasty loaves. 

A few months ago, I had some leftover hot chocolate, or rather the hot chocolate sludge left at the bottom of the pan. Feeling experimental, I made chocolate bread with it. That bread rose like a hot air balloon too. 

I'm wondering if adding the sugar as a syrup rather than a solid means that the dissolved sugar is more available to the yeast, and that the yeast grow faster. I went googling for info on the subject, but didn't find any. What do y'all think?