As per hard cover editions of classic books, I assume it's a matter of cost - and which books are classics deserving of hard cover reprints?  You're talking about personal preference.  Frankly, I just want the information.  Hard cover is nice, but I'd rather  have a soft cover or e-book versus no book at all.

From our Journeyman courses, we have had people complain that Larry Conner just reprinted the Pollinator Protection handbook - it was - gasp, in Black and White!   Well, the book was first printed in 1990.  It's only been very recently that color was available, especially in technical books.  Some of us remember when newspapers were solely B&W, only a few magazines had color.

This  again gets into issues of preference, and I doubt that adding color to a book about bees, pesticides, and pollinator protection will be improved by adding color.  And yes, it's an old book, but it represents the cumulative, life-time  experiences of three bee-pesticide experts who tested more pesticides than anyone else in the world.  Their basic bee protection recommendations, the hazards, mitigation strategies, and factors that increase risk to bees presented in their book remain the same to this day.   

Another example: the classis book on bee anatomy is the one by Snodgrass.  None of his basic bee anatomy information ages, but his book has been out of print for a long time.  One could ask whether Snodgrass's Bee Anatomy drawings would have been better in color.  From my perspective, his technical drawings are superb, color wouldn't make much difference.

The B&W versus color  issue pops up every so often.  Ted Turner colorized classic B&W movies.  Many objected.  Ansel Adams certainly wouldn't approve of colorizing his B&W landscape photos.   I remember the stink that occurred when Fine Woodworking added color!  Ruined the publication according to some readers.  

From my perspective, I don't expect a re-printer to provide more than the original, unless someone wants to finance the upgrade.  And, for some of us, an e-book on a Kindle or Nook that  is easy to read in sunlight, holds 100s of books on a light,-weight, small, thin device, has replaced a glove box full of paper books, that don't weather well.

But that's another hotly debated issue.  Comments that I well remember - writer's will stop writing if they don't have yellow legal pads or typewriters - those word processors interfere with the creative process.  -I'll give up beekeeping before I carry a computer in a beeyard - that was before cell phones, especially Smart Phones.  

Still, personally I'd rather see an original Monet than pictures of classic art on flat-screens in my house as proposed by Bill Gates some years ago.  Times change, but I don't think a TV screen will ever capture the effect of paint laid on a surface to catch and reflect light as done by the masters.  I didn't much like a lot of classic art based on photos in art books used by art classes.  But seeing the real thing in Paris, I suddenly understood the difference.
 
In this case, I think we're talking about something similar.  We have the 1) true book collectors who treasure old and rare books, like the look and feel, want to cradle and read the real thing, versus 2) recommendations for books useful to extending knowledge of beekeeping and bee management where content is more important than presentation.

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