Renaming and major changes to the file storage

I have been using digiKam for a number of years now and am currently on 
8.7.0.

I have set up extensive searches for my current set up. Recent changes 
to my image storage strategy have necessitated renaming and deleting 
some folders which were mapped to collections in digiKam. e.g. folder A 
needs to be deleted. Folder B will be renamed to Folder C on disk and 
the files inside the folder also need to be renamed. How do I do this 
without losing the tons of searches. There are some more folders which 
are unchanged. I tried renaming the album in digiKam but it just renames 
the collection without renaming the folder on the disk.

mj