The search term you’re looking for is “balling the queen” See http://dave-cushman.net/bee/queenball.html for example where the behavior is documented as observed in European honeybee colonies by multiple beekeepers. As for why a European honeybee colony would ball the queen, I think we’re still guessing.
One thing to note is that if the hive has at least one healthy, fertilized egg(several hundred would be better) and conditions would allow her to breed, the colony can raise a new queen and keep going.
