The experiment examined how nitrogen applied to a maize crop was partitioned when the maize was intercropped with beans. Treatments consisted of 2, 4 and 6 rows of beans at within-row spacings of 20 or 10 cm sown between ‘maize' rows in which maize was either present or absent. Nitrogen was applied at 0, 30, 60, 90 or 120 kg ha−1. Maize showed a large response to nitrogen and this was little affected by beans. All bean rows in all positions showed some response to nitrogen. The largest response was from the rows closest to the maize, but this response was similar whether these rows were 20, 40 or 60 cm from the maize. Beans gave a much greater response in the absence of maize, indicating that the main factor determining the partitioning of the nitrogen between the two crops was the superior competitive ability of the maize. It is suggested that the approach could be suitable for examining nitrogen partitioning in other non-legume/legume situations.