The present invention contemplates an apparatus and method for isolating glycoconjugates from mixtures or contaminated mixtures thereof. In the present invention, a bed or other support element comprising a mixture of immobilized lectins is provided. The mixture of glycoconjugates is passed over the mixed lectin bed wherein glycoconjugates which correspond to the lectins in the bed are bound thereto while non-glycoconjugates flow away. Thus, the method can be used to isolate glycoproteins from mixtures of glycoproteins and non-glycosylated proteins, glycopeptides from mixtures of glycopeptides and non-glycosylated peptides, glycolipids from non-glycosylated lipids, and free oligosaccharides from extracts or preparations. This invention solves the problem of isolating glycoconjugates from complex mixtures of glycoconjugates with non-gyconconjugates. For example, in most cells, a large fraction of the total macromolecules are not glycosylated. Glycomics and glycoproteomics specifically are concerned with macromolecules which contain carbohydrates. Thus, the mixed bed lectin chromatography described herein will expand both glycomics and glycoproteomics, which are currently hampered by lack of methods or devices or approaches able to be used to generally isolate all or most of the glycoconjugates in cells or extracts of cells in a simple and direct approach that has few steps.