>This leaves out colony level traits altogether. 

When using the term 'common' I don't believe the intent is to be exclusive nor all-encompassing, rather more like 'ubiquitous' - pointing out that three general traits tend to pattern studied resistant colonies worldwide. From the 'Parallel Resistance' paper:

'Independently, each Varroa-resistant honeybee population previously studied across seven countries has developed the same traits to control the mite. These are: (i) brood removal, in which Varroa-infested pupae are removed; (ii) recapping, where holes are created allowing direct access to the pupa and then resealed; and (iii) mite infertility, where female mites are unable to produce viable (mated) female offspring.'

'Here we found that the enhanced expression of these three key traits is common among resistant populations.'

This is in addition to other traits that might be found in each of the populations independently that appear to be assisting in resistance expressions.

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